Teach Us
by AriesBalorPrincess
Summary: He has come to love his life with his daughter, no need of dating. That is until his ex-girlfriend from high school shows up out of the blue, having returned home for personal reasons. Will they be able to reconnect on a romantic level? Or will they remain friends? And what does his daughter have to say about it, while going through her own drama in life?
1. Chapter 1

**You guys I've been waiting for a while to post this one. For the most part it's done. I have a little bit that needs to be written, but I will have that part done before I get that far in posting. I don't know how many chapters there will be. And this chapter could have been longer but I felt it best to end it where I did.**

 **Disclaimer : I do not own Hart of Dixie or the characters used. **

**Enjoy!**

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"How was your day at school peanut?" Wade asked, sliding a glass of chocolate milk across the kitchen counter to his daughter.

"Banana," she pointed at, when her dad held up a banana and an apple. "It was alright," she shrugged. "Mrs. Henderson was out and the substitute let us watch a movie since today is Friday. Mr. Mattison gave us a pop quiz which I know I passed since I am forced to study even when I don't have too," she sighed, rolling her eyes.

"Now you see why I make you study," he chuckled, peeling an orange for himself. "Anything else?" He inquired sitting next to her on a kitchen stool.

"According to Nick, who heard from Reggie, who talked to Stacy, there is a new nurse at school. I wouldn't really know since I haven't been to the health office as of late," she shrugged. Wade chuckled, shaking his head. "This is something you would know if you didn't play hooky from work today," she reprimanded him.

"I didn't play hooky; I had some appointments today, you know this," he stated, raising an eyebrow at her.

"I know; it bites that after the last few years that she now wants me to be a part of her life. Where was she when I needed her the most?" She questioned, blinking her tears away.

"Your mom is trying and for that we can't be mad at her. Be happy that she wants to be a part of your life once again. I know her leaving when you were 8 was hard on you, and not hearing anything from her in the last 5 years is tough and not fair to you, but she is trying. You will not have to go live with her," he told her, knowing how rough this whole situation was for his daughter.

"It's stupid she wants her daughter in her life now that she has a new family, with who used to be your best friend," she grounded out.

"I know," he sighed, pulling her into a small side hug, kissing the top of her head. "Other than this supposedly new nurse at school anything else of interest happen?" He asked, in hopes of cheering his daughter up.

"Reggie and Maggie broke up, which totally bites since we were going in a huge group to the school dance next Friday, and now it's all a mess, dad," she whined, dropping her head to the cool counter top.

"Sweetie, I am positive that in a week things will be fine between Reggie and Maggie, and you will still all go as one big happy group of friends," he assured her, rubbing her back gently.

"You think?" She questioned, turning to look at her dad.

"I do," he nodded. "Look how long you and Nick were at odds when you two broke up last month," he pointed out.

"We were friends before we dated and we only dated for barely a month. We were being childish by avoiding each other for the whole two days," she replied back. "Maggie and Reggie dated for two and half months, and they weren't really friends beforehand. And I like Reggie, and I don't want to stop being his friend because Maggie is my best friend," she informed her dad.

"No one said you did. And if Maggie makes you think that you have to stop being friends with someone to be her friend, she is the one that isn't being much of a friend to begin with," he said.

"I know," she shrugged, getting up to rinse her milk cup out in the sink.

"Who dare I ask are you crushing on?" Wade asked with half a chuckle, he half worried that her next crush might turn out to be more than a boyfriend for a month. It was one of those things he is still learning to come to terms with. She is growing up, and she is no longer his little girl. She would remain his little girl when she has kids of her own.

"Dad," she whined, earning a bigger chuckle from Wade. "This is awkward," she whined, leaning against the counter.

"Even though it is embarrassing for the both of us, it is still something we need to talk about. I want you to remember that it doesn't matter how uncomfortable the subject matter is you can always talk to me about these things, squirt." To him, nothing would ever be quite so awkward as either the puberty talk or the safe sex talk they had.

"I know," she smiled softly, happy to always be reminded that her dad would always be there for her. "If you must know his name is Mitchell, and he moved here from Montana a few weeks back. I have a few classes with him, but otherwise I don't know him. He doesn't hang out with any of my friends," she let her dad know.

"Maybe you should change that and talk to him," he told her. She shrugged, looking down. "Okay we can stop gossiping, and you need to go get ready to go with your mom; she should be here shortly to pick you up," he informed her.

"We never gossip, dad," she giggled, walking upstairs using the set of stairs in the kitchen.

With his chuckles dying off, he got up and washed up the little bit of dishes that had been used, not wanting them to build up over the weekend causing the house to smell if he decided to take off for the weekend since his daughter wouldn't be home anyway.

Drying his hands he went ahead and opened the front door, knowing that his ex-wife stood on the other side, as she is the only one, he is expecting to show up this afternoon.

"Amiya hey, she'll be down shortly," Wade told her, opening the door wide enough to let her enter. "Arianna, sweetie, your mom is here," he called up the stairs.

"I will have her back Sunday around 5 or so. I will call if it is sooner or later than that." Wade nodded at his ex-wife.

"By now you should know the rules. No later than 7 on Sunday night," he reminded her.

"I know, Wade," she sighed. "Have you forgotten this isn't the first weekend that I have had her?"

"No, unfortunately I didn't forget, Amiya," he sighed. "Sorry," he apologized. He couldn't let himself get upset over this as he just told his daughter the same thing minutes prior in the kitchen.

"You can hate me, Wade. After everything, I put you through, I wouldn't expect you to be happy about this, but for the sake of my relationship with our daughter, I would appreciate it if you could at least pretend not to hate me and not talk shit about me while our daughter is nearby," she said, her anger poking out.

"I don't know where you hear this stuff from, but I have never once bad mouthed you in front of Aria," he spoke through clenched teeth, keeping his anger at bay.

"Dad says nothing bad about you, unlike you do about him," Aria said, coming down stairs. "Bye dad, love you," she said kissing his cheek and hugging him.

"Love you too, sweetie," he said hugging and kissing her temple. "Be good for your mom." She nodded, heading outside. "Go before I say something I shouldn't," he warned his ex-wife.

With a heavy sigh shutting the front door and watching his ex-wife drive off; he headed to the kitchen, grabbing a beer from the fridge, to figure out what he wanted to do with his Friday night.

Placing his unopened bottle of beer back in the fridge, he grabbed his keys and phone, shutting lights off and locking the doors he went out to the garage, getting in his car. One thing he wasn't about to do was sit at home and wallow in self-pity over words spoken with his ex-wife over the course of the day. No, instead he would go hang out with his brother for a few hours.

"That's rough, Wade," Jesse told him, moving around the pool table. "I know how screwed up this whole shit with your ex is," Jesse started, leaning against the pool table instead of taking his shot. "My lovely niece is 13 now and the last time you went out and had fun for you was when you were still with your wife, nearing 9 years ago. When are you going to let yourself move past all that crap and be happy again?" Jesse questioned, lining up his shot.

"It wasn't like I could go out whenever I wanted to, Jesse. I do have a daughter to look after, and she will always be first," Wade sighed, taking a drink of his beer.

"I am not saying she shouldn't be first in your world. What I am saying is that it is a Friday night, you are single, and you have no kid at home to worry about. Have fun, find a hot chick and make your night, dude. Shit it beats complaining to your older brother about the shit in your life; I have heard a million times already," he shrugged.

"I don't know, Jesse," he sighed, running a hand through his hair. "I am not that guy anymore," he shrugged, taking his turn at the pool table.

"That is true; you have been out of the game for a long time," Jesse chuckled. "But that doesn't change anything, Wade. One day before you know it, Aria is going to be away at college, and you little brother are going to be in that house alone. Is that what you want?" Jesse questioned.

"No," Wade sighed. "You don't get it, Jesse. Your marriage is strong as all hell," Wade pointed out.

"That may be so, but you can't drown yourself in pity every weekend. If this is about Aria, then talk to her about you dating," he told his little brother.

"Maybe," Wade sighed.

"Dude, you can't be all sad and shit," Jesse chuckled. "Find yourself a woman and enjoy the night, no one is saying that it needs to end with you in bed with her. You're not going to end up married by the end of the night, have fun," Jesse told him.

"Gee I know that," Wade said rolling his eyes. "You quitting already?" Wade asked.

"Yep, unlike you I have a wife and two sons waiting on me at home," he said, clapping his brother on the shoulder. "You, on the other hand, have a bar filled with an opportunity to forget about your ex, and I don't mean in alcohol either," he warned his brother.

"Just tell that wife of yours hi, and that I am sorry she married you," he joked. "Give the boys hugs for me and tell them I'll be seeing em soon," he said, placing his pool stick back where it went. Jesse nodded, pulling his car keys from his pocket.

Finishing off his beer, he went to the counter and ordered a water. There was no way that he would drive with the slight chance of getting into a car accident because he was intoxicated. He wouldn't be his dad.

"Most people come to the bar to drink alcohol." The soft teasing voice had him, looking to his right. A voice he hadn't heard in over a decade.

"The same could be said about you," he nodded, to the glass of water she held.

"I have an early start to my day tomorrow, except my friends won't let me leave," she sighed, motioning to a table where a few women sat drinking what looked to be fruity cocktails.

"I think I can help you with that," he smiled, drinking half his glass of water. "Tell em, you got a better offer, and I will make sure you get home safely," he said, suddenly wanting to backtrack on what he said. The days spent with her wrapped around him coming to the forefront of his mind. Memories that seemed to be like they happened yesterday and not 13 years ago.

"You would do that for me?" She questioned softly, unsure of herself. Seeing him sitting at the bar, she couldn't not go up to him. Uncertainty filled her stomach while approaching him not sure if he would be happy to see her or ignore her completely after what happened in the past between them.

"Yeah, besides I'm leaving, why not help ya out in the process?" He questioned. He wouldn't mind spending a few moments alone with her, to find out what has become of her life since he last saw her.

"Oh alright," she caved. "Just wait here," she told him.

He nodded watching her go. He chuckled lightly to himself, watching from the corner of his eyes the way her friends turned to look at him, making him feel uncomfortable under their heated gaze.

"Ready?" She questioned, popping up next to him before he knew it.

"Yep," he told her, flinging his arm over her shoulder. "Needs to be believable," he whispered bending down to her ear. It felt right to have her in his arms, holding her into his side. Those feelings he pushed to the back of his mind, not wanting to dwell on them. He couldn't risk it.

Feeling bold she snaked her arm around his waist, moving further into his space, wanting to remember how it truly felt to be submerged in him. "Believable, remember?" She questioned with a faint blush.

He chuckled leading her from the dimly lit bar, feeling at ease despite the bombshell of a brunette wrapped around him, that just so happened to be a stranger to him these days. She once was his everything, now? Years and states kept them apart, and he knew nothing about her.

"Thanks for that," she told him, pulling free from him once they were out in the fading light of the day. It took all of her strength to pull away. She felt comfortable, familiar in his hold.

"Nah, it's nothing," he waved it off, stuffing his suddenly free hands into his pants pockets. "You're back," he blurted out, rocking back on his heels, prolonging the departure not wanting to head back to his empty house.

"That I am. I couldn't stay away from home any longer," she was told him, with a shrug.

"I can't imagine stale peanuts from the bar could be very filling, unless you already ate before hand," he rambled, cussing himself out. He wanted a chance to talk to her, now that she was back. He didn't know if he would see her again or not, and he wouldn't waste this opportunity.

"Any certain place in mind?" Zoe asked. She had no one at home waiting on her. So far, things with Wade were okay; she didn't think going to get a bite to eat with him would hurt anything. "Keep in mind that I do have to be up early tomorrow morning," she reminded him, a small blush creeping over her cheeks.

"Who gets up early on a Saturday?" He asked with a teasing voice. "I may know a little place," he told her, motioning in the direction they needed to go. He knew she went to become a doctor, graduated with honors; he did run into her father. Knew she could be a doctor if it was still her dream.

"Lots of people," she quipped out. "Not everyone works Monday through Friday," she told him.

"What is it you do if you are being forced to work on a Saturday?" He asked, nudging her gently with his elbow. Wanting to hear what type of doctor she became from her. Not that he knew anyway.

"Hardly forced to work when it is a job I do enjoy," she told him. "I help out at the hospital or the emergency room on the weekends. I am a doctor after all," she told him feeling a bit smug seeing his smirk drop from his face.

"Why just help out? Why not full time?" He asked, regaining his thoughts. For some reason, that wasn't the job he thought she would be saying. He didn't know what to think her job was, not that he actually put any thought into it. To hear her say she only helped out when she could be a full-on doctor didn't make much sense to him.

"It would interfere with my day job," she told him. "What about you? Obviously, you work Monday through Friday, so what glorious job do you call yours?" She questioned. He dropped the inquisition on what her job during the week happened to be, he would figure it out eventually.

"Music teacher," he told her smugly, watching the smile play across her face. It was her that told him he could do it. "I wasn't really sure what I wanted to do, at one point I wanted to own a bar, worked as a bartender to pay my way through school. I enjoyed it, but playing music and teaching kids to play their favorite song or annoy them with one of mine, there is no other feeling," he told her, knowing very well that he could go on for days talking about his job. Not only was there that being a music teacher let him have normal hours to take care of his daughter, unlike the erratic hours of working in a bar would have given him. "You had a hand in helping me there. Your words stuck with me for a long time, Zo."

"You would have figured it out in the end," she told him, pushing the praise off. Wade shook his head, knowing it wouldn't have been the case; he couldn't make her see that though.

On the short little walk, they remained in mostly silence, commenting about something or another when they walked past the thing in question. The silence between them wasn't awkward.

Before they knew it, they were sitting at a table their food in front of them. Conversation going on around the bites of food they took.

"The last I was here was the day..." Zoe shut up real quick, taking another bite of her food not wanting to talk about that day, like ever.

Wade nearly choked on his bite of sandwich, this was a complete first for him. He never once met an ex and had dinner with them while talking about the day they broke up. It took him over a year to come back to the place, avoiding the booth on the left side all the way in the back. That was there booth every time they ate there.

"Yeah," he lamely replied. "What brings you back?" He questioned, taking a long drink of his cola.

"Family," she told him. "I moved back last week," she told him. She moved to be closer to her dad in his old age and with him not doing so well, it was easier for her to move than for him to do so. The only problem being that before she could finalize her move, she lost her father. Not that she would be telling a practical stranger that kind of news. She didn't need any more pity than she already got. She didn't know if he knew that or not, she wasn't about to bring it up though.

"How is your dad?" He poised then. Seeing her face fall, he quickly changed the question not wanting her to relive what he could see was a sad part of her life. "How do you like being back?"

"It is a bit different from the city," she shrugged. "Though I am enjoying being home," she told him.

"The city?" He questioned, arching an eyebrow. "New York happened, huh?" He chuckled through his question.

"My first love. Most the time I feel as if it is my only love," she sighed, not looking at him. She loved him once, and she was not ready to bring those feelings back to the surface.

"I know that feeling," he sighed, knowing better than to make her talk about her past heartbreak when he wasn't willing to talk about his epic fail of love life. Not when they had been madly in love with each other, only for it to crumble around them, when they went, different ways at the end of high school and couldn't make their relationship last through college, breaking up over Thanksgiving weekend, when they were both in town.

"You ever thought about going back home?" She asked, changing the topic back to the previous topic.

"I was born in Bluebell, but it doesn't feel like home, don't think it ever will. Fairhope will forever be my home," he told her. He moved when he had lost his father in the third grade, his mom needing to move away from their home to fully cope with the loss of her husband.

They made small talk over the last of their meal, sharing a few different laughs throughout the meal. The night turning out better than either one of them could have ever guessed it going.

"I can give you lift home," he told her. "The problem being my car is back at the bar," he told her with a slight grimace. Offering her a ride home was the gentleman thing to do, what he was taught to do. And he didn't want to blow the cover for her by being spotted back at the bar without her.

"Quite the conundrum you have there," she laughed. "Lead the way. Who am I to turn down such an invite?" She questioned, falling into step beside him as they walked. So far, she quite enjoyed the time spent with him. Maybe with time they could be friends once more.

"Me?" He chuckled, bumping against her lightly. "One would think that you would be the one to get the third degree, saying they are your friends, and they don't know me," he pointed out, keeping a straight face for a few seconds watching the realization of the truth hit her.

"You may have a point," she nodded.

"Thought you might see it my way," he laughed.

"Didn't I beforehand?" She questioned, shaking her head lightly.

The car ride to Zoe's place was filled with directions on how to get to her place, as he couldn't remember. The closer they got to her place the more he could sense her mood changed from a happy outgoing one to a sadder closed off one. He kept going through what he may have said or done, quickly coming to the same conclusion, he had done nothing wrong, and it had to more with her family than with him. He heard the news, saw it in the paper.

"Thank you for tonight," Zoe told him, once he was parked in her driveway.

"I feel like I should be thanking you," he replied, turning to look at her. She gave him a smile, pushing open her door.

"It was nice to run into you, despite everything," she said grimacing as she slipped from the car.

"Despite nothing, we both needed that out. It was a pleasure Doc," he winked, watching her cheeks flush a light pink color. "Night, Zoe."

"Night, Wade," she responded, shutting the car door.

Wade waited until she was at her front door, unlocking the door only after she dug her keys from her bag. With the front door firmly shut and hopefully locked behind her, did he then put his car in gear and back out of her driveway heading for home.

The smile he wore despite not getting Zoe's number, didn't fade until he was back at his own empty house, the life the house saw from his teenage daughter no longer there. He did know where she lived, even if that did seem to be a bit of a creeper move to make to show up at her house to ask her on a date even if it happened to be as friends. He missed having her in his life; one night with her showed him that. He could only hope that maybe fate would play a hand before he did something that stupid.

Pushing those thoughts right out of his head, he went straight up to take a shower washing the days' grime and utter crap from him, feeling so much better. Wearing only a pair of clean boxers, he flopped himself down on his bed, debating on if he wanted to watch a bit of TV before calling it a night.

His answer was an obvious one once he woke up the next morning, the sun streaming in through the half-open curtains, hitting him in the face. Stretching he tossed the blankets from his body, wondering at what point during the night he covered up with them. Running a hand through his short-cropped hair, he easily made his way downstairs, grabbing a clean pair of jeans on his way by the dresser.

Effortlessly he made himself some breakfast, mulling over what he should do for the day. The idea of going to see his brother's family appealed to him, while the thought made me feel a tiny bit guilty that he didn't have his daughter to take with, knowing how she enjoyed spending time with her cousins.

Deciding what he would do with the dwindling morning hours, he cleaned up after himself, and headed out once he grabbed his wallet, keys and phone. His first stop was to get a bouquet of flowers.

"Where is my little granddaughter?" Wade laughed, hugging and kissing his ma.

"Can't you give your youngest son some love?" He teased, handing the flowers to her.

"Didn't I give you enough while you were growing up?" She teased back, heading into the kitchen to find a vase for the flowers.

"I often wonder if you really did, Ma," Wade remarked with a chuckle, sitting at the kitchen counter. "Did you still need the bathroom faucet fixed?"

"No, your brother fixed it yesterday, bringing me grandkids to love and spoil while he had done so," she teased. "Thirsty? Hungry?" She asked her youngest.

"I'm good, Ma," he told her. "Aria is with her mother this weekend," he sighed. "I like that she is back trying to be the mother she should have always been," he told his mom.

"You resent her for what she has done, and that she has a right to see her daughter after pulling the little stunt she had done," she finished her son's thoughts. "It is okay to resent her, to have this dislike for her Wade. You only need to get along with her for your daughter's sake. It pisses me off to think for a moment she would run away from being a mom, when that was the best job, I ever had. She ran away when she had you, I had no one," she ranted, shaking her head.

"I know ma," he said pulling her into a hug. "Being a dad is pretty great," he smiled, gently rubbing his mom's back calming her down. "One I wouldn't trade for anything. Despite raising us by yourself, you did an immaculate job," he grinned.

"Don't let that ego get to your head," she laughed.

"Too late for that Ma," Jesse announced, entering the kitchen.

"Uncle Wade!" Exclaimed a nine-year-old boy, jumping on his uncle.

"Nephew Charlie," Wade laughed, spinning him around. "Where's that brother of yours?"

"Grounded," Charlie shrugged. Wade raised an eyebrow looking over at Jesse.

"Just you wait for your daughter to be 16," he said in lieu of an excuse. Wade chuckled, wondering just what his 16-year-old nephew did.

"Try not to rush the next 3 years of my life to make me suffer a fate like yours," he said, messing his nephew's hair up. "Why don't you cut your son's hair?" Wade remarked, wondering why he wants his hair to be that long for.

"We've tried; they do as they please. We can't hold him down to cut it. You'll see the day you have a son," Jesse chuckled. Having a son would be nice. A nice thought for later in life, before he got too old to have kids.

"Wade, you didn't tell me that you were that serious with someone, you didn't say you were dating anyone either, what gives?" Jackie asked, hands on her hips.

"What gives is that I am not seeing anyone. I don't have a social life to even begin to date anyone. Aria takes up most of my time," he replied. He thoroughly enjoyed being a part of his daughter's life.

"Now that she is with her mother on the weekends, you do have a life outside of your daughter," Jackie remarked. "I would like to see you find someone and settle down. It's not wrong to want those things, sweetie. I hardly think Aria would mind either."

"Yeah sweetie," Jesse mocked. Wade glared at his brother.

"I know and I will try my best," he shrugged, not entirely sure what he could even say to placate his mother. "What do you say we head outside and play a little ball, buddy?" Wade asked, turning his attention to his nephew. "And we will let these two stay inside and gossip," he chuckled.

Wasting his afternoon playing catch wasn't a bad way to waste his afternoon. What he hadn't been anticipating was ending up in the emergency room, when his dope of a brother tackled him to the ground. With a feel and a wince he could tell that a rib or two were broken.

"Dr. Stevens will be with you shortly," the nurse told him, finishing up the initial exam.

He nodded his head, resting back on the hospital bed, the urge to turn the TV on there; he held back not really knowing when the doctor would be in, and he didn't want to seem rude so laying on the bed with only his thoughts were the way to go. His problem he kept drifting off wondering if maybe Zoe was a doctor on, as he knew she worked there as it was the sole hospital in town.


	2. Chapter 2

**Hey guys, I know I told you that I had this one mostly done and for the most part I do, but when I was reading through it over the last couple of days, I have come to the conclusion that I have more that I want to add to this story, so it will be a bit longer between updates as I figure a few things out with this one. I do hope you all enjoy this chapter as much as the first one.**

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His wandering thoughts were answered when the doctor on his mind entered the room. She gave him a soft smile sitting at the computer. "Mr. Kinsella," she said looking down at the clipboard in hand, logging into the computer. "I am Dr. Stevens. It says here you have broken ribs?" She questioned, coming to stand by him, being professional as it was her job, whether she knew the patient or not.

"That is why I am here for," he responded with a smirk. "Though I am fairly certain that one or two may be broken," he shrugged. This wasn't the time to question her on where her husband happened to be, a quick glance at her left hand told him it wasn't that simple of an answer.

"I will need you to remove your shirt, so I can have a look," she told him, hoping the blush didn't show, over memories past. Wade chuckled lightly not wanting to hurt his ribs further, seeing the light dusting of color on her cheeks.

With the exam over and his broken ribs wrapped up tight, his shirt firmly in place; he took the papers Zoe printed out for him.

"I suggest making an appointment with your actually doctor," she confirmed, holding the hospital room door open for him.

"Will do, doc," he nodded, giving her a soft smile.

She pointed him in the right direction, headed off in the opposite direction than he needed to go. Holding his ribs he walked out to where his brother was waiting, informing him on what needed to be done now that he had indeed broken two ribs and fractured another one.

"Dude, I didn't think I would be breaking you," Jesse said, driving them back to their mother's place, where his son stayed. "When did you become so fragile?" Jesse questioned with a snicker.

"Shut up," Wade groaned, wanting nothing more than to punch his brother's arm; he refrained from doing so not wanting to cause an accident of some sort.

Returning to his mother's house, she made a far bigger fuss over Wade than he would have liked. With two of his ribs broken, he was capable of doing things on his own. He will admit that getting to rest while his mother put his brother to work was far more relaxing and satisfying than it should have been.

"Ma, I will be fine," he assured her, getting ready to head back to his own home for the night.

"Are you positive? You can stay here in the guest room, and if that doesn't work for you, I can come to stay at your place until Aria comes home," she tired.

"Positive, Ma. I will be fine. I am going to be sleeping, and I don't want to put you out. I will call you tonight when I get home, and I will call again in the morning, okay?" He told her, kissing her cheek. Sometimes being the baby remained tough when injured and all his mom wanted to do was take care of him.

"Oh alright," she caved. "You best take it easy, Wade," she stressed.

"I will, night ma," he told her.

"Night my baby boy," she told him, seeing him out.

Once at home he went straight to his bed, having eaten dinner with his mom, getting undressed caused a bit of a problem when his ribs screamed in pain while trying to pull his shirt over his head. Wincing at the pain, he managed to get himself ready for bed, taking the medication prescribed crawling under his blankets finding the best position in feeling no pain. Once situated he called his mom to let her know he was home safe and sound, not wanting her to worry all night.

Waking up in the morning he thought he was still asleep dreaming of smelling the sweetness that was pancakes mixed with the intoxicating smell of bacon. Coming to his senses he rushed down the stairs as fast he could with his side hurting at his sudden movements.

"What are you doing here?" He questioned coming to a halt in the doorway of his kitchen. "And why are making breakfast?" He asked, moving slowly into the kitchen, sitting at the counter.

"Your brother told me what he did to you, your lovely mother wouldn't stop worrying, and she wanted to be the one to do this, but she had engagements she couldn't cancel on, so I offered to come. You that shocked to see me?" His sister-in-law explained following it up with a question.

"Kind of," he shrugged, rubbing a hand over his side. "You didn't have to do this to please mom," he told her. "You are already in by giving her grandchildren," he stated, gladly accepting the cup of coffee she passed to him.

"You think that I am in favor to your mom?" She laughed, handing him a plate of food. "Not so much your Mom as your brother. His actions make me feel guilty," she sighed, starting to clean up the mess she had made.

"They shouldn't," he said around a mouthful of food. "We've been injuring each other since we were kids. Not my first broken bone at his hands, and I gave as good as I got, breaking my fair share of his bones. You'll understand when your two boys get to that stage in their lives," he shrugged, going back to his food.

"Your mother has warned me about that," she sighed, not looking forward to the days she would be breaking her son's fights up.

"You can report back to my mother that I am fine, and my day is going to be spent going over music lessons for the next week and maybe some sleep," he told her. "And Beck's, please don't feel guilty about this; Jesse doesn't, and neither should you. It was nothing more than a little accident," he assured her.

"I will relay the message to her, and I will leave you be once I clean up my mess," she told him. "In the meantime can you tell me if your brother has mentioned anything about wanting another child," she said, turning to the sink, not witnessing Wade choking on the bite of bacon he took.

"What?" He coughed, taking a long drink of his coffee.

"I am not pregnant," she told him over her shoulder. "I love my boys, though I really wish I had my little girl," she sighed. "I can't have more kids, with the complications from Charlie."

"You thinking about surrogate?" Wade asked polishing off the food on his plate.

"No," she said, shaking her head, taking the dishes from Wade. "Adoption. I have tried talking to Jesse about it, but it's like he doesn't hear me or rather doesn't want to hear what I am saying, and I was curious if he mentioned anything to you," she shrugged, turning her attention back to the plate to wash.

"He hasn't. I can talk to him see where his head is at for you," he offered, refilling his cup. "I'll make sure he doesn't know I am doing it for you," he tacked on seeing her hesitancy towards it.

"You would do that for me?" She questioned, her eyes filling with tears.

"I have known you since I was around the age of 7," he remarked. "I think it is safe to say that you are the sister I never knew I wanted," he smiled. "Don't tell Jesse this, but I do like you more than I do him," he winked. She laughed, whacking him with the dish towel.

"Good to know," she smiled. "You really don't have to talk to him about it; I think I can figure out a way to make him actually listen to me about this," she told him, wiping the counters dry.

"If you're sure," he told her, heading into the living room, grabbing what he needed, sitting on the couch.

"I am positive," she assured him, waving bye as saw herself out, leaving Wade to do his work in peace.

He flipped the TV on, turning the volume down, pulling out his book to figure out the lesson plan for Monday. Finalizing the last of the lesson's plans he looked up hearing his front door open.

"Thought you were spending all day with your mom?" Wade questioned, seeing his daughter enter the house, no one following behind her.

"I couldn't deal," she shrugged. "Mom was cool the first night and yesterday. Today different story and I wanted to be home after running into Uncle Jesse. Someone needs to be taking care of you," she teased.

"If you haven't eaten yet we can go grab a bite only after you take your bag up to your room, and you can tell me all about your weekend with your mom," he commented.

"Do I have to?" She whined, grabbing her bag. "Can't you call mom and talk to her about it instead?"

"No, I cannot; I would rather hear it from you," he told her.

"Fine," she grumbled, heading up to her room.

They ended up at their favorite pizza joint, in a corner booth. Aria did everything in her power to avoid talking about her time spent with her mom, instead opting to talk about what her dad did while she was away.

"You can't tell me you stayed home all weekend. That would be boring even for you," she told him, taking a drink of her beverage. "Uncle Jesse said you hung out at the bar, what happened there?" She asked innocently enough.

"Pool," he replied. The opening to talk about him possibly getting back into dating, sat in front of him. He couldn't bring himself to say anything, not wanting to cause a scene of some sort.

"Dad I need more here," she pouted.

"I don't need to tell you anything that happened at the bar. I am the parent, and you are the kid and what I do while you are away is none of your concern," he sternly said. "If you must know, I did leave with someone; it was more to help her out as she had work in the morning, and her friends refused to let her go," he quickly told her, leaving out that it was his high school sweetheart.

"You sure she had work?"

"Yes, because your uncle broke my ribs, and she happened to be the doctor I got in the emergency room. Now what did you do with your mom?"

"Shopping," she shrugged. "I'm not allowed to bring any of the stuff she bought me home," she sighed. "You do know that I am okay with you dating, right?" Aria questioned, playing with the straw in her drink. "I am at the age that I understand that you need someone other than your daughter in your life. I want you to be happy and to have someone, like you should have had mom," she shrugged, not meeting her father's eyes.

"I will keep that in mind the next time I am out. You need to know that I am not going to rush out and find someone this instant, it will take time, and they have to get along with you, if they don't it's a deal breaker, because you will always be first to me," he told her, seeing her smile light up her face.

"Comforting to know that," she laughed. "Since we have a short week this week at school mom wants me to come over once school is out on Wednesday, told her I didn't know, and I would talk it over with you," she told him.

"The choice is up to you, sweetie. If you want to go spend the extra days with your mom, go, if not, then stay home. I want you to be happy, and officially you only have to spend Friday through Sunday with her. I can't, and I will not make this decision for you."

"I know," she sighed. "Would've been nice though," she mumbled.

"I thought you were staying with Jammeh on Thursday night for the dance on Friday?" He asked his daughter.

"That's right and after the dance, we were going to head back to Jammeh's house. Think mom will be mad that I show up on Saturday instead?" She asked biting her bottom lip.

"I don't see why she would. You have a right to spend time with your friends, and if she does have a problem with it, I will talk to her and get it squared away," he assured his daughter. There was no way he would be letting his ex-wife ruin a sleep over for their daughter when she had every right to be a teenager with her friends.

"Okay," she nodded, looking past her dad. "Why does that group of women keep looking over here?" She asked, looking to her dad. "What did you do while I was gone?" She questioned once more.

"I told you already," he said, turning to look behind him against his daughter's wishes. He didn't know who they were; he could vaguely place them. "I can't tell you why they keep looking over," he shrugged.

"You sure about that?" She questioned once more.

"Yes," he replied, casting one more glance behind him, catching sight of the one woman he did know join the rest of them, her face flushed from whatever they were saying. "I may know one of them," he replied, looking at his daughter.

"She's the doctor isn't she?" Aria asked, serious face on. Wade nodded, taking a bite of his pizza. "You should ask her out," she commented, pulling a pepperoni from her slice of pizza.

"You sound like your Grandma and Uncle," he teased. Asking her out had nothing to do with being ready to date. Heck he didn't know what kept him from dating now that his daughter was no longer a kid.

"Going out on a date won't break your heart," she told him.

"I know," he told her solemnly. He was in no rush to get his heart broke again like his ex-wife broke his heart. Being a bachelor would soon enough run out, he knew that. It didn't mean he would be rushing out to find that special someone, he already found that, or so he thought, and he wasn't in any rush to go through that all over again. Besides he has been out of the game for over 15 years. And dating his ex may or may not break him further.

"Just sayin' you ain't getting any younger, and I am okay with it; you deserve to be really happy," she told him, wanting him to understand she was more than fine with him dating again.

"I know and for the record, I am happy," he told her, finishing his slice of pizza.

"I know, dad," she rolled her eyes, eating her pizza. "I am just sayin'," she shrugged.

They remained quiet the next few minutes as they ate, more focused on their food and quenching the hunger within them, then they were on continuing any conservation.

"Make me a promise," she prompted getting her dad's attention once more. Wade nodded his head, curious to know what his daughter's promise could possibly be. "The next time you see your doctor friend, you ask her out," she finished.

"Okay, I promise; I will ask her out," he conceded, knowing it would be an off chance of running into her again. Making an impromptu trip to the E.R. would be out of the question, he didn't know when he would be at the bar again. It had been odd that he has already seen her two different times after they parted ways Friday night. For him, it was a very simple promise to make, a promise he knew he would never have to follow through with.

"I mean it, dad," she warned.

"I mean it too, Aria. The next time I see Dr. Stevens, I will ask her out, just don't hold your breath because I am not going to set out to find her," he told his daughter, needing her to understand. "About Mitchell," he started to say, chuckling when she banged her head on the table. "Turnaround is fair play."

"You do know that I haven't seen him over the weekend?" She questioned lifting her head up slightly. "I figured the most I could do come tomorrow would be talk to him," she shrugged.

"Okay," he said, not wanting to make a big deal with his daughter of her asking him out even if it would be a group outing to the school dance. He wanted her to remain his little girl for as long as possible.

* * *

When Monday morning came along he got up getting himself ready, halfway through making breakfast his daughter joined him ready for the day. Aria liked school, so he never had to fight with her in the mornings to get ready for school, much like his mom had to do with him when he was younger. He couldn't have been happier to learn that Aria enjoyed learning as much as she did. In the mornings, they remained quiet letting themselves wake up fully.

The car ride to school is when they would talk about what they had going on after school, their plans made on what would be going on and where Aria would be if Wade needed to stay after school or that Wade would be in the music room waiting for her if she needed to stay after and if things changed, she would need to come find him while she had a break in her day, and he would do the same, not wanting her to use her cell phone during school hours.

"Zoe?" He questioned, walking into the teacher's lounge before school started. His first period free for the day. "Fancy running into you here."

"Wade, hey," she smiled, turning to smile at him. "I didn't know you worked here," she told him, inviting him to sit with her.

"I could say the same thing," he chuckled nervously, sitting across from her. "Is this your weekday job?"

Laughing softly, she nodded her head. "It is, the new school nurse, started Friday actually," she told him.

"I couldn't be here Friday. Though my daughter said something about having a new nurse at school," he shrugged.

"You have a daughter?" She questioned. "Is that who you were with yesterday?" She asked sheepishly.

"Yes," he chuckled. "Thought I saw you last night," he commented.

"It was me," she nodded. "My friends are trying to get me out of my place to make new friends as I haven't gotten into contact with any from high school," she confirmed.

"You know me," he winked. She laughed, getting up.

"Yes, that I do," she smiled. "I should be going," she told him gathering her things.

"I can walk with you; it is on my way to the music room," he told her.

He spent the walk in a comfortable silence, listening to multiple teenage conversations going on around them. He even shared a look with his daughter. This had to be a deal he broke with her; he couldn't ask out a fellow co-worker and his ex on top of that, he couldn't work alongside someone with an awkwardness between them. Not when things were good between them.

"This is me," she told him stopping by the main office. "Maybe I will see you around," she smiled, pushing the door to her office open.

"You can count on it," he winced, hearing the words slip from his mouth.

She smiled shyly, entering the nurse's office, getting ready for the slew of teenagers that were sure to walk through the door the second the first bell rang.

"You looked chummy with the new nurse," Aria smirked, walking into the music room. "Should I be I don't know curious to what is going on there?" She questioned.

"Don't you have to be on the other side of the school for science?" Wade questioned, looking at the clock.

"You can't ignore this, dad," she told him.

"Like you can't ignore the fact to befriend your crush," he laughed, watching her face fall. Fully committing to the fact his daughter was at the age to date, was easier than living in denial.

"And I can't be late to class," she quickly announced, heading out of her dad's classroom to the one she needed to be at for her first period across the school.

Wade chuckled and spent his free period getting the room set up, the way he would need it for his first period of the day. Making sure each seat had new sheet music for the song they would be learning to play to add it into the mix of songs they would be performing in just three short months.

Rubbing his temples to ease his headache, he walked the halls to the teacher's lounge for his lunch break. The plan, quickly eat and go back to the silence of his classroom to help rid himself of the headache his students gave him while they learned the new song.

"Shouldn't music be fun?" He cracked a smile hearing her voice, frowning when he realized she was on her way out.

"Who said otherwise?" He asked. "You're not staying in here to eat?" He questioned, before he could stop it.

"Unfortunately sick kids don't take a break," she shrugged. "I don't mind either way," she said. "Stop by and I can get you something for that headache," she said slipping from the lounge.

Quickly grabbing his lunch from the fridge and buying a bottle of soda from the vending machine, he headed to the nurse's office deciding that he too would rather eat in the music room. He placed his food in the music room before heading over to take Zoe up on her offer of some aspirin.

"Why aren't you in class?" Wade asked his daughter, stepping into the nurses' office, seeing her talking to Zoe.

"Really dad?" Aria groaned. "Thanks Mrs. Stevens," she smiled taking the hall pass, going past her father.

"We will be talking about this at home," he told her.

"No we won't," Aria said, pulling the door open quickly leaving, hoping her dad didn't follow her out.

"You won't tell me, will you?" Wade questioned, giving her a pleading look.

"I shouldn't to respect your daughter's privacy," Zoe started to say, walking to the cabinet to get him some aspirin. "Though you must know she is fine; she was simply unprepared like most girls her age are."

"We're not talking about sex are we?" He asked in a panic. He didn't believe that his daughter would be engaging in such an activity, not when she had a hard enough time speaking to the guy she has a crush on. If she can't approach the guy, she likes, there could be no way she would be having sex. He had faith in his daughter that she wouldn't be doing so at such a young age, like some of her peers.

"No," she said, calming him down. "I don't want to embarrass either of you over this, but your daughter has started her monthly cycle," Zoe told him, handing him the packet that held two aspirin in it.

"Oh," he said a bit sheepishly. "You can't embarrass me by that as it is natural, Aria, on the other hand, I won't make such a fuss with it for her. Thanks for helping her out," he said, tearing open the packet, using a plastic cup by the sink to get some water to take the aspirin.

"Perks of the job, I get to help kids. It can be a bit awkward at times, but I enjoy it," she smiled.

Wade smiled, swallowing the pills. "Thanks for these," he said, getting a look at the clock. "I should get back, before I have no time to eat before my next class," he stated walking to the door.

"No problem, glad I could be of assistance," she smiled, turning back to her own food.


	3. Chapter 3

_**I am sorry that I have dropped the ball in not only keeping up to date with my stories but writing in general. I can place blame on a numerous amount of things but it all comes down to me on not having the drive to write. I do have the spark back.**_

 _ **The idea from the very start of this story was to have Zoe the school nurse and as her backstory developed while writing, I found it hard for her to be away from the hospital, so if I disrespected anyone by calling Zoe a nurse while working at the school I am incredibly sorry about that. And I will explain more indepth on why Zoe is working as a school nurse as opposed to full time at the hospital in what should be the next chapter.**_

 _ **Enjoy!**_

* * *

"Any certain cravings for dinner tonight?" Wade questioned his daughter on the drive home, letting the run in earlier in the day drop, as he didn't want to embarrass his daughter anymore than she probably already felt. Some things she clearly wasn't comfortable enough to talk to her father with, and this is one of the few times he wouldn't push her into doing so.

"Mexican and not tacos," she told him. "Can we just get take out tonight, from that authentic Mexican restaurant and not the imitation place?"

"Sure thing. Let me know what you want, and I will pick it up closer to dinner time unless you decide you want to eat there," he commented, giving her the option.

"I will let you know after I have finished my homework and do a quick look at what I have learned in the rest of my classes," she told him.

"Sounds good," he told her, pulling into the driveway, not bothering with putting the car in the garage, since they would be needing it once more.

"How do you know Mrs. Stevens?" Aria questioned, pausing on the stairs, ready to run up them at any moment needing to escape her father.

"Doctor I met over the weekend," he told her, flipping through the mail he grabbed on his way inside.

"Huh," Aria said, rushing up the stairs, having a feeling her dad was holding back something from her.

Wade shook his head, walking to his office dropping the mail on the desk, placing his bag on the floor. Rubbing a hand over his face, he grabbed the few bills that came and opened them, to get them paid.

"Hey, dad, I need you to sign this," Aria said, handing him a slip of paper.

"What's this for?" He asked, taking the very obvious permission slip. "Is this something you want to do?" He asked her. "I have no problem signing this and paying the fee, if you really want to join the softball team."

"I do," she nodded. "It won't have any conflict with my school work; my grades won't drop, please dad?" She begged, giving him her famous puppy-dog look, the one he could never refuse.

"Okay," he told her. "I will get this filled out; we will have to get you in for a physical," he informed his daughter.

"Cool, thanks dad," she smiled, leaving him be once more. Setting it to the side, he went back to finishing off the bills, giving the slip one final look over before seeing what questions needed to be answered and signing his name and the date.

With that done, he went to start a load of laundry, not that he had a lot to wash, since Aria washed her own clothes these days. With the wash started, he headed to the living room to watch a bit of TV going over his lesson plan for tomorrow.

"If I read another word from a textbook, I feel like my head might explode, and I would hate for you to be in tears scraping my brains from the walls," she exaggerated, falling on the couch. "Do we really have to watch this?" She whined, swiping the remote from the coffee table, flipping through the channels, to find something to watch.

"This is why you have a TV in your room for," he chuckled, placing his pen down. "What makes you think I would clean your brain matter from the wall? I'd make your uncle do it; I would be too busy crying my eyes out to leave my bed, if it ever happened," he clarified.

"What a weird way of saying you love your daughter," she dryly told him. Leaving the channel on the same show her dad had it on, since she couldn't find anything else to watch.

"Better than not saying it at all," he smirked. "You decided if we are eating in or at home?" He questioned, standing and stretching his back out.

"In, please," she requested, switching the TV off.

"Okay," he said, grabbing the car keys, his wallet still in his back pocket, his cell in the front pocket of his pants. "Anything else before or after dinner?" He questioned, ushering her outside, locking the door behind him.

"I am tired of looking at pale pink walls," she shrugged. "Mind if we repaint the walls?" She asked, looking at her dad over the hood of the car.

"What do you have in mind?" He asked, motioning for her to get in the car.

"Blue or purple, maybe both," she shrugged, buckling up. "I need new shelves too," she told him.

"Why do I get the sudden feeling you are trying to sucker me out of a whole new bedroom? Something wrong with your bed? Dresser? Do you need new clothes while you're at it?" He asked with an amused smile on his face, eyes trained on the road.

"If you're offering, I'm certain I can find plenty wrong with everything in my room," she shrugged.

"It will have to wait. We can go slowly over the next few months, not all at once," he told her pulling into a hardware store. "We'll start with the walls and shelves this time around," he suggested.

"That's fine dad," she said, pushing her door open after releasing the belt buckle. "To save your bank account, I'll have a talk with mom, see if she will take me shopping again to where I can actually bring the things home with me," she said with an eye roll, walking next to father.

"Please do not guilt trip her into buying you anything," he warned, pulling the door open, letting her walk in first.

"I won't," she replied, leading her father to the paint section of the store.

Wade looked at paint samples while his daughter looked over the multitude of purple and blue paints, his eyes roamed over the different colors of green, finding that his room could use a massive upgrade from the eggshell white his ex-wife picked out for the bedroom. He could go with a hunter green, forest green, seafoam green or even a crocodile green if he so chooses. Shaking his head, he would consider changing his room around when he finished with Aria's room.

"Find the colors you want?" He questioned walking to the end of the aisle where his daughter seemed to be in a struggle with three different colors.

"Navy and I can't decide which purple to get. Do I go with wine, orchid or amethyst?" She asked, holding the three colors up for her dad to see.

"You picked navy already?" He asked, getting a nod in confirmation. "The wine color here would make your room a bit darker and not light," he shrugged. To him, it wouldn't be right. His daughter had always been a bright light in his life.

"True, I don't need to have a dark room; I want it to be more vibrant," she remarked, looking at the other two colors.

"Now you are on your own because those two colors are the same," he said, looking from one square to the other, not able to tell the difference between the two.

"Of course not," she giggled. Examining the colors once more. "I'm leaning towards the amethyst," she commented, settling on the two colors she wanted.

"If you're sure," he said, letting her back out if she wanted to.

With one final look, her mind stayed made up on the navy and amethyst colors. Informing her dad, she did, in fact, want them. Getting the assistance needed, they walked out of the store with two cans of paint each, saying if they needed more he would come back and get another can.

"You want to tell me about your day at school?" Wade questioned now that they had their food. He made it a point in the day after school at any given time to ask his daughter how school had been for her. Staying a part of her life was natural for him.

"Same as always really. Learned new things, went over things we had already learnt. We have a science project. Paired up today with a syllabus on what we need to do," she rattled off.

"Are you happy with your partner?" He asked, knowing from personal experience how difficult it can be to work with someone you don't get along with.

"I think so, if I could actually talk to him that is," she sighed.

"Does it happen to be your crush?" He asked, finding the situation amusing. He held no worries about her dating; he didn't like it, and it made him anxious. He would be fine if she never wanted to date. He, however, knew that would never be the case.

"Yes," she groaned. "How do I even talk to him?" She asked, needing help on what to do. As awkward as talking about boys with her dad can be, her dad was her rock and there was no one else she would rather be getting her advice from.

"You just do," he shrugged, watching her roll her eyes. "Push past the nerves you're feeling and talk to him like he is your best friend or whatever."

"You're not helpful at all," she groaned.

"Probably not, you can ask your Aunt or your Grandma," he said. "They might be more helpful than I can ever be. I never let me feelings get in the way while talking to a woman I liked."

"What did you do?" She asked curiously.

"Walked up to them and talked to them, commented on how pretty they looked. Pushed past those feelings and acted casual," he shrugged. "The more thought you put into it the harder it can be on you, walk up to him and say hey, comment on something he has, find an interest he likes and talk about that," he finished saying.

"That might help and if it doesn't I am seeking some private girl talk with Grandma or with Aunt Becky," she let him know.

"I suspected as much. You could always talk to your mom about it," he commented.

"I could, but she wasn't there when we had the other talks, and I don't know if I feel comfortable enough in talking about my crush with mom. It's weird and awkward enough with you; I can't begin to imagine how it would feel with mom."

He nodded letting her have it. He would never push her into having any sort of relationship with her mother. He did know that if and when the bridge would be rebuilt between them; it would be set at the pace Aria needed to be comfortable with, and if it moved faster than she was ready for it would only crumble down and stay that way.

"You talk to whoever you feel the most comfortable with, just don't keep things from me," he stated.

"Kind of hard, when they would tell you to begin with. And as awkward as things are when we talk about my personal life, I like not having secrets from you. Even so, I am getting to the age I need to have some things remain private until I am ready to tell you, dad. You have to respect my privacy."

"I do and I always will. We both know I could be one of those snooping parents to see what you are up too. As long as we have an open and honest communication going on, I have no reason to invade on your privacy," he assured her.

"We will," she assured her dad. "Good, now can we talk about Mrs. Stevens?" She asked coyly.

"Only if you want to tell me what you were doing in the nurses office today," he countered with.

"I need to use the restroom," she remarked getting up, making her way through the restaurant to where the restrooms are located at.

With a sigh, he went back to eating his food, waiting on his daughter to return. He got she wouldn't tell him everything, especially if she found it to be embarrassing. He didn't mind she didn't want to talk about it; he found that he was more upset over the fact there were going to be secrets between them unlike when she was a little girl and told him everything a smile not far from coming out.

When Aria rejoined her father at the table, they ate in silence. She knew from a young age, assured from a young age that her dad would always be there for her. That he wouldn't judge her or question her about things if she needed him in the middle of the night. She liked that about her relationship with her dad. Going to see the nurse, there had been a second part to her agenda. She wanted to know more about the woman that her father seems to be infatuated with. So far, she seemed okay, not that spending 5 minutes with her while she had work to do, counted as getting to know her.

"Are you going to see Zoe? Like date her?" She asked bashfully looking down at her food.

"Date her, I don't know. See her as being friends with her, I think so," he commented. "I have to think about how awkward things would be if we did date and break up because we do work with each other," he said, letting her in on his thought process. Never once in his life, had he gotten back together with an ex over a decade later.

"That might be for the best, but dad, what if things only go right?" She questioned.

"I can't be certain they will go that way. For now being friends with her is all I can offer her, sweetie. Maybe later there can be something more," he said.

"Does that mean you can invite her to dinner as friends?" Aria asked, chewing the inside of her lip.

"I guess it wouldn't hurt to invite her over for dinner one night," he shrugged, liking the idea to get to know the more grown-up Zoe. "Why?"

"No reason," she shrugged.

He could sense there was by far more to it than what she let on. Over the years he learnt not to push his daughter because at any given point you could find her to cave not able to resist in letting someone in on her plan of action. He could wait her out.

The following day, Wade walked into the school ready to invite Zoe over for dinner any day she could make it, not wanting to put her out if she happened to be busy. His only problem he couldn't find her in the teacher's lounge nor the nurses office. He really didn't know where else to look for her at, that he figured it could wait until lunchtime.

That plan didn't work out for him either, when he found out that someone else was filling in for Zoe. It put him in a funk for the rest of the day, not sure if she was sick or if family business came up for her. Either way he found himself worried about her. That was something his students didn't miss during class, the bit of information making its way to Aria.

"What happened? Did she turn you down?" Aria bombarded her dad the second they were in the car together.

"What are you talking about?" Wade asked her with a chuckle, turning to look at her after starting the car.

"Really dad?" She asked with a duh voice. "Everyone is talking about how you were out of it today, and I know for a fact what you had planned to do, so what happened, when is the school nurse coming over for dinner?" She questioned, not wanting to play her dad's little game.

"Not really sure, she wasn't in today," he shrugged, putting the car in reverse to pull out of the parking spot.

"That explains the funky mood," she laughed softly.

"What's that mean?" He questioned, now pulling out of the school parking lot.

"You're worried about her," she teased.

"Of course I am; she is my friend," he retorted. "Other than my mood being spread around the halls, how was your day at school?" He questioned. "Did you talk to Chuck?"

"Chuck?" She groaned. "His name is Mitchell," she groaned. "And other than talking about the project we didn't talk and he more than likely thinks I'm some pathetic loser," she sighed, folding her arms over her chest, sinking into the seat further.

"He could never think that, sweetie," he tried to assure her.

"We both know that he can, and you only say those things to cheer me up because you have to since you're my father, and you've loved me since I was in the womb," she retorted with an eye roll.

"That all may be the truth, but I don't tell you things out of an obligation of being your father and loving you. I want you to be happy, so of course I am going to say anything I can to make you smile, but you oughta know by now that I say what I do because it is the truth, we both know that I will tell it like it is for you," he responded.

"I know," she sighed. "Just like you know that even while fighting with you, I love you. Even if I don't say it all the time."

"I love you too, through fights and everything."

He let the silence fill the car. He wanted to know what happened between her and Mitchell to make her think he would think of her as nothing more than a pathetic loser. As much he wanted to ask, he didn't want to push her into it. He wanted to let her come to him, like he knew she would; it is only a matter of time. And it worked out for him when she sighed loudly, from the corner of his eye, he could she is looking at him. Even so, the car moved along in silence.

"Can we talk?" She asked the second they were through the doors. "Please?"

He nodded, walking through to the kitchen pulling a pack of cookies from the cupboard while she got the milk from the fridge, grabbing a glass from the dish drainer, sitting at the counter.

"What's going on, sweetie?" He asked, placing the open container of cookies between them. "Does this have something to do with Mitchell?"

"It has everything to do with him," she sighed, playing with the cookie in hand. Wade waited, eating his own cookie, seeing she needed a moment to say what was bothering her. "He overheard a conversation today, that he shouldn't have," she said softly, looking down.

"What was the conversation about?" Wade prodded, nudging her leg gently with his foot. "I can't help if you don't tell me, sweetie," he told her softly.

"He heard about the massive crush I have on him, and now he won't talk to me or even look at me. What do I do, dad?"

"You find the courage within yourself to tell him how you feel face to face. If you think that is too hard, then write him a letter explaining your feelings and slip it into his locker, but make sure he knows it's from you," he told her.

"What if he doesn't like me?" She pouted, dunking her cookie into glass of milk.

"Then he isn't worth your tears, and you go find some guy that is worth your smiles," he told her.

"I guess, I can do that. Fear can't hold me back," she smiled, hugging her father.

"Never let your fear stop you. Push through it and you will be happy," he said, kissing the top of her head. "I love you."

"I love you, dad," she responded, eating the last of her cookie, before rushing upstairs.


	4. Chapter 4

**A few of you wanted to see a certain flashback in Wade and Zoe's life. I have given you two small flashbacks this chapter. They are in italics. I do touch a bit on why Zoe is a school nurse instead of being the doctor she should be. Enjoy.**

* * *

Walking through the house to answer the door, Wade shook his head seeing his daughter laying on the couch, her legs tossed over the arm, her history book resting on her stomach while she read. her feet swinging to the tune of the music she is listening to.

"Don't worry, I've got the door," Wade laughed, pulling the door open. "Hey, Zo," he greeted, opening it wide enough for her to enter.

The day after she didn't show up for work, she returned, needing a personal day to go over a few legal papers about her house, deciding she no longer wanted to sell it off and find a different place. That after some thinking, it didn't feel so sad to be living in her childhood home with her father gone. Not when she could hear her laughter mixing with her fathers while he chased her around the house when she was a little girl. Wade waited until after she explained where she had been to ask her over for dinner as friends. She happily accepted.

"Hey," she smiled, walking into his place. Raising an eyebrow seeing his daughter on the couch. "Homework?" She questioned.

"Yep. She normally studies in her room, not sure what has her down here to study," he replied. "Let me give you a quick tour," he told her.

"Do I need to take my shoes off?" She asked, seeing the line of shoes by the front door, Wade in his socks and Aria bare footed.

"If you don't mind," he told her.

"Of course not," she smiled, slipping her shoes off, happy she didn't go with any of the buckle shoes she has at home.

He waited for her to be ready, her shoes looking as if they belonged next to his and Aria's and not out of place like most of the company they normally have over. Not that he put thought into how out of place his company's shoes seemed to be.

With Zoe ready he gave her a tour of the downstairs. The living room, kitchen and the bathroom. Upstairs was nothing but their bedrooms, and he saw no point in showing Zoe those, not that she minded; she didn't need to see their personal spaces.

"Mind me asking what happened with Aria's mom?" Zoe asked, sitting at the kitchen counter, a glass of wine sitting before her. "Forget I asked," she quickly covered up seeing Wade tense up at her question.

"It's fine; I normally don't talk about it. She left us five years ago," he told her, turning to look at her. "She's actually in a new marriage to Meatball."

"You can't be serious?" Zoe questioned, remembering the loud obnoxious boy with food for a name. Meatball deserved to be happy, and she was happy he found that, just not happy that he broke his once best friend's marriage and family up to achieve said happiness.

"Very," Wade sighed, turning back to his task at hand. "They have two kids," he told her his emotion breaking her heart. In a sense, she could tell it had very little with her leaving him, but she left their daughter and went and created another family without a care for her first born.

"Oh Wade," she sighed, slipping from her spot and walking to where he stood, rubbing his back in soft slow circles. "She missed out and from what little I have seen of the two of you together, you've done an outstanding job in raising her."

"Thanks Zoe," he smiled softly. "I can't take all the credit, though. My mom has been a lot of help, the same with Jesse and Becky," he shrugged, turning to look at her. Zoe's hand moved from his back to his waist, their eyes locking.

"How are they? Your mom and Jesse?" She questioned, with a small gulp, stepping closer to him.

"They're doing alright for themselves. Jesse has his own family," he whispered, slipping a hand in her hair, not caring if he messed it up or not.

"I think I saw that online," she whispered, feeling his breath on her lips.

Wade went to close the small distance between them, his lips ghosting over hers when they jumped apart hearing Aria approach them.

"Hey dad, when is Mrs. Stevens getting here? I'm starving," she called out, walking around the corner stopping when she saw the deer caught in headlights look on both adults standing in the kitchen. "Nevermind, I'll have a yogurt," she said, grabbing one from the fridge and a spoon, leaving them to it.

"Need any help?" Zoe asked him, stepping back. Going back to that place with Wade, she didn't think it would be a good idea. Her feelings for him growing stronger each time they spent together. Loving him now was just as easy as loving him when she was 16.

"I've got it," he told her. His feelings wouldn't stay hid any longer; he couldn't push them away. He still didn't think it would be a good idea to pursue dating her, though he loved her now as he did when he was a teen. He had a feeling it was a love that wouldn't ever go away.

Zoe nodded taking a seat at the counter once more. She looked down at her hands feeling like she should open up to him. He told her about his failed marriage, repaying the favor wasn't that hard to do.

"I'm a widow," she told him softly. Wade stopped what he was doing turning to look at her.

"You don't have to tell me, if you're not comfortable in doing so," he told her. As curious as he may be, he wouldn't make Zoe go through the trouble of opening up if she wasn't ready to do so.

"I know; I don't have to," she retorted, giving him a reassuring smile. "We were married for a year," she smiled, thinking back to her marriage. "He made me happy. He was an author. Researching gangs for his next book. Wrong place wrong time. He got caught in the middle of a shootout," she told him, finding it easier than she thought to tell him, the urge to cry no longer there. "A year of married bliss gone with one single bullet. I never thought my marriage would end that way. We were trying for a baby, that didn't happen obviously," she rattled off finding it hard to stop talking once she started to talk.

"Shit, Zo, I am sorry you had to go through that. First your husband, then losing your father, you are a strong woman having gone through all of that," he told her. He couldn't fathom the idea of going through that much loss in his life. Losing his father was hard enough on him.

"So you do know about my dad passing," she commented. The day of the funeral she hadn't been up for much social activity, that she remained close to her family and barely noticed the rest that showed up, having yet to look at the log book, Vivian taking charge in sending out the cards.

"I was there. Only felt right to pay my condolences," he shrugged. "I left after the service, didn't know how we would fair. I am sorry, Zoe," he told her softly, taking her hands in both of his.

"I think I could have used you that day," she confessed. Wade had always been great at helping her through horrible situations like that one. "Losing Joel has been over two years now. I tend not to dwell on it as much. He made me a better person, and he would want me to move on and not grieve over him for the rest of my life. Not when he knew the love I have left to give," she told him, that love, mainly for the man comforting her, she wasn't ready to divulge that bit of info yet.

"He must have been an amazing guy, Zoe. You wouldn't speak highly of him if he wasn't," he said, turning back to the food.

"You guys would have liked each other. He played the guitar too. One of the reasons on why I wanted to stay away from him," she said.

Wade said nothing feeling hurt that Zoe wanted nothing to do with anyone playing guitars after him. He was just as devastated after their breakup as she was. On another level, he got it because he stayed away from the woman who reminded him of her.

 _"What's with the flowers and treats?" Wade asked, stopping at his friend's locker. The very friend he has had a crush on for the past few weeks._

 _"I've got a secret admirer," she smiled, grabbing her math book out. "Do you have a pencil; I can borrow? I lost my pencil somewhere between science and my locker," she frowned shutting her locker. "All I have is pens, and I don't like doing math with a pen," she finished, turning to look at him._

 _"It is your lucky day, Zo," he smiled, handing her the pencil in hand. "I don't need it for gym," he shrugged, walking her to her math class. "You don't seem too happy about your secret admirer," he commented._

 _"It is exciting," she said, pushing some hair behind her ear. "At the same time it's scary, because I don't know who it is," she sighed, stopping at her classroom. "Would it hurt for them to use their name?" She asked, walking into class._

 _Wade sighed, watching her go, rethinking his plan as he hurried off to the locker room to change for gym before the bell rang. He didn't have much time to think of changing anything with his plan when he needed to be focused on the drills they were running and the game of dodgeball they were split up to play._

 _Like most days, he made it to his English class mere seconds before the bell rang. It wasn't his fault. After gym, he would need to rush across the school to his locker, talk with a few friends and rush upstairs to where the where the English classrooms were at._

 _"Cutting it close are we?" Zoe asked, from the desk next to his._

 _"Never," he winked._

 _It was during the lesson plan that he thought of the perfect plan. He focused on the poem for Zoe than the short story they were starting. With a few minutes left of class and Zoe off talking to the teacher, he slipped his poem into her notebook._

 _"Ready?" Wade asked, when they were dismissed for lunch._

 _"Yep," Zoe answered, grabbing her things and walking out of the classroom. "How's your story coming along?" She asked, walking to her locker._

 _"It's coming," he answered. "Yours?" He questioned walking behind her as they walked down the stairs, in the mob of students rushing up or down the stairs._

 _"A work in progress," she simply answered, making it to her locker and placing her notebook on the top shelf in her locker, Wade tossing his belongs in her locker, like he always did, grabbing them after they finished lunch._

 _They only had English and lunch together, the rest of their day spent in different classes, and he didn't get a chance to see her to know what she thought of the poem he left for her._

 _"Yes," she said, behind him after school. He smiled turning to look at her. "The poem is very sweet, and yes, I will go out with you," she clarified._

 _"You busy tonight?" He asked, shutting his locker._

 _"It's Friday, so nope, tonight is all clear," she smiled. She would spend her Saturday afternoon doing what bit of homework she had._

 _"I'll be at your place around 6," he confirmed, walking to her locker with her. "And no I am not saying a word on what the plan is either," he smirked. "Just wear something comfortable. Like jeans and not one of your ridiculously short skirts."_

 _"They are not that short. Like my dad would let me wear skirts that flipping short," she retorted._

 _"Can't say I blame him," he retorted, taking the flowers from her._

 _"Of course not," she rolled her eyes. "Do I get any sort of hint about this date tonight?" She questioned, stuffing what she could in her bag._

 _"What fun would that be?" He asked, raising an eyebrow._

 _"A lot," she replied, shutting her locker, slipping her bag on her back, taking her flowers from him._

 _"Nah," he dismissed, slipping an arm around her shoulders, leading her out to his car._

 _He had the night planned out, once he could get home and finalize the plans that is. He would be taking her to Oak Hollow Farm. They would be taking a horseback ride to a little overlook and have a romantic picnic watching the sunset. A good-night kiss would be in the cards as well._

"Oh my sweet little Wade," they heard being called from the living room. Wade looked at Zoe his eyes wide, Zoe trying to hold back her giggles.

"Ma, what are you doing here?" Wade asked, finally finishing his task at hand.

"My car is making that grinding noise again, thought you could take a look," she told him, walking fully into the kitchen, Aria behind her.

"I thought I told you to take it in and not to let Jesse touch it?" He asked with an exasperated sigh, wiping his hands off.

"When does Jesse listen?" She retorted rolling her eyes, turning to Zoe. "Look at you all grown up. I didn't know you were back in town dear. Wade why didn't you tell me that you were in contact with Zoe? A certain mother would have liked to know that bit of information," she accused, looking pointedly at her son, while wrapping Zoe up in a tight overdue hug.

"She hasn't been in town that long, Ma. It's not like she had numbers or knew where we lived," he said coming to Zoe's aid.

"I haven't moved since the day I moved into that house, Wade. My number and address remain the same," she snipped out, finally letting Zoe go. "I am sorry to hear about your father, dear."

"We knew it was coming," she replied. "With the way things ended with Wade, I didn't know if you wanted me to show up at your house," she told the woman that she looked up too as a mother.

"Nonsense, you are always welcome at my house. Now come tell me everything I need to know about you. What are doing these days? Husband? Boyfriend? Kids?" She questioned, pulling Zoe off to the living-room.

"What huge piece of this crazy puzzle am I missing?" Aria asked her father, helping herself to something to drink. "How exactly do you and grandma know Mrs. Stevens?"

"Zoe and I have a long and complicated history," he told his daughter, adding an extra place sitting at the table for his mom. "We grew up together. We're both from Bluebell; I moved here because your grandpa passed away, Zoe moved here a year and a half later, when her father had a fall out with Brick Breeland, the owner of Bluebell's practice. I still don't know the details on what went on there. We dated from the time we were 16 to the time we were 19."

 _"Something going on?" Wade asked sitting across from Zoe in their normal spot at the cafe. The last time he saw her was back in February when he made a surprise visit for Valentine's weekend. He missed seeing her over Spring break when she stayed at school to keep studying and to keep her volunteer job at a local clinic. So he did Spring break in Florida with his friends._

 _"Quite a bit actually," she sighed, looking down at her lap, where her hands rested. She thought long and hard about the decision she made, spent weeks thinking about it in her spare time, thought about it on the plane ride home yesterday._

 _"What is it?" He asked, taking a sip of her drink, not getting one himself as he wanted to check in with his girlfriend before ordering anything._

 _"I love you, Wade," she started to say, placing her hands on the table._

 _"I love you, Zoe, wholeheartedly," he said, taking one of her hands in his._

 _"This is hard for me," she sighed, taking her hand away from him, placing her hands in her lap once more. "I think it's best we break up, Wade. It's hard to be in this relationship with it being long distance. And with my schooling getting harder, I won't have time to come back to see you and that isn't how we should live. I really think it would be best if we went back to being friends."_

 _"It'll be hard going back to being just friends. However, you have a point. We can't make this work if we have no time to try to make it work. Do I want to break up? No, but if you feel like it's the right thing for you, I can't argue with that. New York is your dream since you were a little girl. I can't compete with that. It sucks, but it needs to be done," he said getting up. "You'll be great," he told her, kissing her head._

 _"You'll make a great teacher, if you decide on that career, Wade," she smiled. "I am so sorry, Wade."_

 _"Shh, Zo. You have nothing to be sorry about. We can't make something work."_

"These last few meetings with her have been the first I've seen her in over a decade," he told his daughter.

"That's tough, Dad," she told him. "Maybe if things work out, you can capitalize on your lost love," she smiled, leaving her dad alone in the kitchen.

Maybe he could capitalize on his lost love with Zoe. The more he thought about it the more he questioned whether things could even work out with Zoe. They broke up for more than distance. Just because their lives crossed now, didn't mean things would work out for them. It didn't matter if they are older and wiser. And on second thought maybe they needed to go through everything they did to end up together for good this time.

One thing was for certain, he wouldn't question it, and he would take each day with Zoe as they came, and do whatever felt right for them.

"Why a school nursing job?" Aria asked after learning about her being one of the top doctors back in New York. Wade perked up hearing his daughter ask that question; he would like to know that answer as well.

"A change in a sense," she said, pushing the food around on her plate. "Going back to work after my dad died, it didn't feel right. After the old school nurse quit, to move so she could take care of her mother, the position fell in lap, and I took it wanting to try something different," she explained. Working full-time in a hospital still didn't feel right, not when she got the love and drive to be a doctor from her father. "Change of pace, change of scenery in a sense."

"Oh, I didn't know," Aria said softly. "I'm sorry."

"It's fine, really. And nothing you need to be sorry about," Zoe assured her. "I don't mind talking about why or even talking about my dad. I enjoy reliving those moments."

"Like the time you made me sneak out for that party at your house. Your dad was so ticked off at you," Wade laughed. "Don't get any ideas," he warned looking at his daughter.

"Wade, if I remember correctly you started the party," his mom stated. "And I had to pick you up at the police station that night, for underage drinking. And you didn't sneak out you lied and said you were staying at a friend's place," she corrected.

"Wrong party, Jackie," Zoe corrected, laughing.

"You were trouble, dad," Aria laughed.

"Please don't be like me, sweetie," he begged.

"He wasn't so bad," Jackie commented.

"He was sweet, thoughtful, caring, one of the best people I've ever known," Zoe said. "Being like your dad won't be so bad."

"You have to let her make her own mistakes and choices in life."

"Yeah dad, grandma is right; I get to make my own mistakes and choices," Aria replied sweetly.

"Doesn't mean I have to like it," he grumbled.


	5. Chapter 5

_**This was supposed to be the last chapter of this story and because I wasn't satisfied with the way I ended it, I am going to be adding more to it and adding what should have been the end for this chapter to a later chapter, however, many more chapters that may be. Saying that, I can't promise you that chapters will be up any sooner than I have been getting them out since I have no more written. I am still going to try to get a chapter up weekly, if not please bare with me. Enjoy.**_

* * *

"Dude, why didn't you tell me that Zoe was back in town?" Jesse asked, sitting next to Wade, on their mother's couch, a beer in their hands, while they watched Jesse's two sons playing video games on the TV.

Wade picked at the label on his beer not saying anything. It had been nice when his family didn't know Zoe was back in town. It wasn't as if he was keeping it a secret from anyone. He just knew the second they learned that she moved home, that they would be all over him, much like Jesse is now. His mom for the most said nothing to him since she had dinner with them. It turns out, she didn't remain silent on the Zoe revelation.

"I didn't know it was everyone's business on whether she was back or not," he quipped out, shaking his head. If he knew he would be getting the fifth degree from his family, he would have stayed home in his empty house rather than dealing with them question him about Zoe. He envied his daughter, right now. She got to be at her school dance having fun with her friends, and he was stuck with nosy family members. Why didn't he volunteer to chaperone the dance?

"When it comes to the first girl who broke your heart it is my business," Jesse stated. He remembered how broken his brother had been when he showed up for their family night, and that was days later. He couldn't let that go. Not when he knew otherwise."How is she doing?"

"Why do you even care, Jesse? It's been years since we broke up, we've both moved on. We are nothing more than friends," he told Jesse. It is the truth, even if he felt like he wanted more with Zoe. Who is he to push Zoe into any sort of relationship with him?

"Keep telling yourself that, Wade, and one day you might believe it, but I won't ever believe it. I care because it's you and it's Zoe and you two together makes perfect sense," he easily explained with a smirk. He could let past pain go, when looking at the bigger picture. It isn't often if ever that you get a second chance at being with a lost love. He couldn't in good conscience let that opportunity pass his younger brother.

"Do you ever think that maybe she is happily married?" Wade questioned him, tipping his beer bottle up for a drink.

"Didn't need to think about that, not when mom told me otherwise. It sucks she was dealt that hand. But I am calling it fate," he smirked, while Wade rolled his eyes.

"For the way you acted when we broke up, I'm shocked you're making this big of a deal about me getting back together with her," he marveled remembering the empty threats his brother spewed.

"I was in the wrong. All I saw was my little brother hurt. And there wasn't anything I could do to fix that. But now, I think you not making a move to get her back is you doing nothing to secure your happiness. Do you love her? Do you really think that you can only be her friend here on out? Look how well that worked out for you when we were kids," Jesse went on, not giving Wade a chance to answer what he was telling him. Jesse wanted him to think long and hard about it all.

"You don't get it, Jesse. She's been through a lot these past few years, and I don't want to add to it for her," Wade pleaded with his brother to see the point he is trying to make.

"You can't base a life with Zoe on the bad things that she went through. If you do that any life, you may want with her will pass you bye. Is that what you want?" Jesse questioned him. "Our past doesn't dictate our future." With that said, Jesse got up leaving Wade to process what he told him.

For the rest of the night, Wade seemed to be in a different world, no clue to as what was going on around him. Jesse is right he couldn't let their past, the one they shared and the one they didn't tell them who they are or who they will be in the future. Bad shit happens, and it is how you move past it that makes you who the person you are in the here and now. If he doesn't fight for Zoe now he wouldn't be any better than who he was at 19 when he didn't put a fight up for then. He never stopped loving her. He learned to live with the pain of losing his first real love and lived his life. This is a chance he needed to take. He couldn't let it pass him by, not again.

"Did you even hear the news?" His mom asked. Wade shook his head, looking at his mom. Bits and pieces of the conversation registering with him.

"I am sorry but there is something that I need to do," he said, getting up. "I did hear something about adopting a baby, right?" He questioned, looking at his brother and sister-in-law.

"You did," Becky laughed.

"Congratulations," he smiled. "But I really need to go, now," he said, slowly moving away from the table.

"I want to see Zoe here next week, my granddaughter, as well," his mom smirked, knowing her son and the look that sat on his. It was his I need to see Zoe look, a look he wore for many years when he was younger.

"I'll do my best on the Zoe front," he laughed, rushing out the door.

Getting to Zoe's, he frantically knocked on her door. The scene unfolded in his head on the way over there. He would show up, and they would have this amazing kiss, Sharing their love for each other. What he imagined, didn't happen as Zoe didn't answer the door. Upon a better look, he could see why, as all her lights were off. Sighing he took a seat on her steps. He started to wonder where she would be, but gave up on that front, because he didn't know a whole lot about this grown-up Zoe. He loved her; he did, but he knew he would need to take it slow with her, giving them time to relearn everything about each other.

"Wade, what are you doing here?" Zoe asked stepping from her car.

"Do you still like peanut butter cookies?" He asked, getting to his feet.

"No, but I don't recall being a huge fan of peanut butter cookies, Wade," she told him, looking more confused than ever on why he happened to be sitting on her steps. "What does cookies have to do with anything?"

"Oh yeah," he grunted, shaking his head. "To prove that we don't know each other anymore. That we grew apart and that we are too different to be a real couple," he told her, starting to pace. "But that doesn't stop me from loving you and wanting to try being with you, Zoe. I never stopped loving you. I love where my life is right now, my daughter is the single best thing to happen to me," he smiled, thinking about his daughter, hoping she had a good time at the dance and didn't sneak out of said dance to make-out with her crush. "But do you know what my biggest regret is?" He questioned. Zoe bit her lip, shaking her head. "Letting you walk away. We didn't try to make things work back then Zoe. Things got tough and we called it quits," he sighed.

"I often wonder where we would be if we wouldn't have broken up. Do you know what I have come up with every time?" Zoe asked him. Wade shook his head. "That at some point, we would have still broken up. My life was New York; your life was here; we couldn't have made that work, Wade. Do I hate it? Yes, because like you, I love you, and I realize now that it went nowhere over the years. I don't regret the life I lived while we were apart, because I grew into the woman standing before you. Of course, we are different people; we change and that is a good thing," she told him, taking a step closer to him. "I am scared of what the outcome could be, but I want to try. That will be my biggest regret in life if we don't try being together again. I'm in, Wade, if you are," she told him, her nerves suddenly rushing in.

"I'll always be in, Zoe," he smiled, pulling her closer, his lips crashing against hers to do the rest of the talking for him. "Why are you so dressed up for?" Wade asked breathlessly, breaking the kiss, his forehead resting comfortably against Zoe's.

"Chaperone for the dance. Hector Niels got sick and I got the privilege of filling in for him," she replied. "Not that it was bad. Aria looked to be having fun. Danced most the night with Mitchell."

"He didn't get handsy did he?" He questioned, pulling away from Zoe. He knew he should've signed up to chaperone the dance. He trusted his daughter; he didn't trust teenage boys.

"No the most they did, was share a small innocent kiss in the parking lot before going their own way. It was cute," Zoe gushed.

"Cute my butt," he grumbled, making a move to walk past Zoe to have a chat with his daughter. Zoe seemed to be faster, grabbing his arm and pulling him inside her house.

"If I remember correctly you had a very cute butt, mind giving me a reminder?" She questioned, batting her eyelashes.

"It's more than cute," he retorted, pulling her close. "I'll show you more than that," he husked, nipping at her bottom lip.

* * *

"How was the dance?" Wade asked his daughter Sunday night over dinner. He left it be when she returned from her mom's place, didn't ask questions while they worked on making dinner. He let it be since he didn't know how she would react to his news about being in a relationship with Zoe. Saying you're okay with it before it happens is different than being okay with the relationship after you learn your father is dating again.

Aria rolled her eyes, finished the bite of food in her mouth, really thinking her answer over. She needed to be cautious on how she said certain things not wanting him to freak out over what had been the perfect and best night of her life, thus far.

"It was good," she nodded. Wade raised an eyebrow, knowing there is more to it than it being good. "Though I have to tell you something, and I don't want you to freak out, promise me you won't freak out dad," she begged him, sticking her lip out to pout.

"I can't make any promises about that, but I will try my best," he countered with. He couldn't stop himself from thinking about the few stories they shared when Zoe had dinner with them. The image of his daughter drinking and at a party stuck in his head.

"Fine," Aria sighed. "Mitchell asked me out, I said yes. So can I go out with him?" She begged once more.

"I want to meet him beforehand," he told her, relieved that it's a date and not some drunken party.

"Don't embarrass me," she warned.

"That is my job, princess," he chuckled, eliciting a groan from her. "I do have to tell you something, and I don't want you to be freaked out by it," he said, turning serious.

"What's going on Dad?" She asked, placing her fork down, giving her Dad her full attention.

"Nothing serious, not yet because we're taking things a bit slower, but I'm seeing Zoe and that means you will be seeing more of her over here."

"And I am okay with that. I like Zoe," she smiled. "I'm happy for you dad."

Wade smiled, happy how his life was changing for the better. How he never thought Zoe would be a part of his life again. Thinking about Zoe made him giddy. He cleared his throat gaining the attention of his daughter.

"Anything else happen at the dance?" He questioned. He wouldn't let on that he knew about her kiss. He would wait for her to tell him that when she is ready to. It gave him time to really come to terms with how fast his once baby girl is growing up before his very eyes.

"Not really," she shrugged, biting her lip. "Let me have this dad. I promise I will tell you when I am ready, and it's nothing bad I swear it," she pleaded.

"Okay," he assured her. "I'm not worried about it. I trust you, and I know you're getting to that age where you need to have your own space, and that when you're ready to share you will tell me," he told her. Everything he said is true, it is just hard to give his teenaged daughter space when she never needed it before.


	6. Chapter 6

**Guys, I am sorry about the delay with this chapter hence the very rare Saturday update. I wanted to add in more for this chapter but I have left that to the next one, leaving this one as fluff. I have started to write the chapter and it will pick up from where this one ends. Someone asked about ages and they are as follows. Aria is 13, Wade and Zoe are 35. Wade had Aria when he was 22. And if my math isn't off they should be the right age. This chapter picks up with them dating for two weeks. Candice does come into play this chapter to an extant. Anyway enjoy.**

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"Hey dad, when is mom going to be here?" Aria asked, joining her father in his bedroom, as he pulled a black sock onto his left foot, moving to place the second sock on his right foot. Not once since has been forced to spend weekends with her mother has she been late to pick her up. And no one told her any different for tonight.

"You're not going to Mom's tonight. Before you get mad at your mom, this isn't her doing, but mine," he told his daughter. "I wanted you with me tonight as Zoe invited us both over for dinner. I will take you to your moms after if you want otherwise you will be going in the morning," he finished filling her in.

"How big of a fit did mom throw?" She questioned, walking out of her father's room, going to grab a pair of shoes she kept up in her room. To her, it didn't make much of a difference of it was tonight or in the morning, she went to her mom's house. If her dad could pull off her not going tonight maybe he could pull off her not going a few other nights as well. She really wanted to go on a date with Mitchell, but he had to deal with her father first, and there was no way she could do that if she had to go to her mom's every weekend, and having a date in the middle of the week wouldn't fly with her dad, maybe she could get Zoe to help her out in that department.

"A big one," he chuckled, once she rejoined him in the living room, after putting his own shoes on. Once or twice he had to move the phone from his ear while she yelled about it not being fair, and that would send them around in circles about the whole thing as it wasn't fair of her to abandon Aria to begin with, and it would be up to Aria, whether or not she wanted to spend any of her weekends with her mother, as he didn't have to let her go every weekend, that was him being nice, for his daughter's sake on getting a chance to spend time with her mother.

"Think you can get me out of going to her house next weekend too?" She asked with a pout. "Are you sure you want me to be going on your date with Zoe?" She asked, pulling the house door open.

"If I show up without you, Zoe will not let me in her house," he said with a chuckled, knowing Zoe would keep him locked out until he showed up with Aria. He knew exactly how stubborn Zoe truly is. "What's so special about next weekend?" He questioned, following his daughter to the car, once he double-checked the house door was locked.

"Meatball's parents are visiting that weekend; it's all I've heard for the past month, and I don't see why I have to visit with them," she explained, slipping into the car.

"Because they are your family, sweetie. I know you don't like it, and I will talk with your mom about it. I don't want you feeling uncomfortable," he assured his daughter. Back when he called Meatball a friend, he enjoyed spending time with the guys' parents, they were loving people in their own unique way. Even so, he wouldn't force his daughter to sit through meeting them if she didn't want to do it. That is up to Aria.

"I wasn't given a choice in the whole mess," she muttered.

"I do hate to be the bearer of bad news sweetie, but you didn't get a choice in being my daughter either," he pointed out with a hint of a chuckle.

"I know but you've been the best dad in the world; I couldn't have picked a better dad if I tried, but why would I?" She asked, looking over to her dad. "You being my dad compared to mom's new family it's different. You wanted me; she thought she did until she realized she didn't want either one of us until she had a new family. She chose to leave us, and I choose when I am ready to accept not only her but everyone who comes along with this new family, I don't even want, into my life. And I am not ready," she stated.

At times, he wanted to think he understood where his daughter is coming from, but when it came right down to it, he had no idea for the simple fact that his dad didn't leave them by choice; his dad didn't run off and start another family coming back years later when he was a teen. He didn't know what that felt like, and he couldn't imagine how hard or easy it could possibly be for his daughter. He wanted to understand for her.

"I try to be the best father for you, but at times I have felt like I have failed, and I know things are going to get harder for us because you're growing up, and I am not ready for that no matter what day it is or if I think I am. You will always be my little girl, Aria."

"You couldn't possibly fail dad," she assured him. "Grandma always says life is a challenge, but a challenge we need to enjoy in the moment, because we never know what is coming next," she said, smiling thinking over just how many times she heard her grandma say those words.

"Grandma knows what she is talking about," Wade smiled, pulling into Zoe's place. "I will tell your mom that I don't think it's a good idea next weekend, and that you have plans with Grandma and Aunt Becky. I will make her understand because this is up to you, if you want to go or not."

"Do you really think I can actually do something with them instead of just telling mom I have plans?" She inquired.

"I am certain that they both will come up with ideas for you to do something outside of Mobile that weekend. I think they will like it more than you know. We can stop by either tonight or tomorrow morning before you go to your mom's place and talk to them about it, okay?" He asked her.

"Okay," she smiled, popping her door open. "Let's get inside before Zoe starts freaking out on why we are just sitting in the car and not in her house," she stated, getting out of the car.

Wade chuckled, following his daughter to the door. Upon getting to the front door, he knocked, stuffing his hands in his pockets waiting for Zoe to answer the door.

* * *

Zoe spent many nights with her father in the kitchen. It took her longer than she would like to admit to learn how to make the simplest things in the kitchen. Eager as ever when she was younger, much like she is now she perfected each dish she did. Not that she would call herself a master as of now, but she could make enough of various things that she wouldn't be eating the same thing multiple days a week or even multiple times a month.

She decided early in the week that she wanted to have Wade and Aria over to her house for dinner. Dating Wade would never be the same as it was when they were teenagers as now they both came with extra baggage from their years apart growing into the people they are now. And she couldn't be with Wade if she couldn't accept Aria, and she could because she adored the girl. Admired the relationship and bond Wade shared with his daughter. It reminded her of her close relationship with her father as her mother wasn't in the picture while she grew up.

Candice Hart did what she thought would be the best for everyone by giving Zoe to Harley when she was only a few months old, needing to save her marriage to Ethan Hart when she had a torrid affair for a week while having trouble in her marriage. With Ethan being the top surgeon in New York, he was not stupid by any means and quickly did the math knowing Zoe was not his. And he had been selfish, not being able to take on the role of being a father to baby that had a father out there.

It wasn't until Zoe found herself living in New York that she looked her mother up. Her father never kept anything from her when it came to her mom, something Zoe was thankful for then. Her father always told her he would support her if she wanted to find her mom, that he would be right there with her. Her father loved her more than enough. And maybe when she went in search of her mom, she should have felt guilty for doing so behind her dad's back, but she didn't. Because, deep down, she knew he would understand why she did it. She had to do it herself; she had his support. When it came time to face her mother in person that was something she needed to do alone.

Her relationship with her mother is rocky at best. It didn't start out with overjoyed hugs and hours of catching up like you see in the movies. It was weird, awkward at best and rushed at times. Things gradually became easier for them, Zoe knowing how to approach any topic without sending her mother over the edge. She got the answers she wanted, thanked her mom for making the choice she did, because Zoe couldn't imagine a different childhood than the one, she lived.

When Zoe called New York home, she saw her mother a grand total of five times a month, with how hectic their schedules could be. Since moving back home, Zoe found she rarely talked to her mom. Once if she recalled correctly.

The phone call she received while in the process of finishing dinner took her a bit by surprise. Getting her mother off the phone was never an easy feat, no matter how many times you started an argument, how many times you told her you really needed to be going, no matter the multiple times you say bye, or the countless I am going to hang up now you say, Candice Hart will not let you go until she gets everything she needs to say out.

"I get it, but you need to understand that Mobile is my home, it always has been. I want to be here and not in New York. I don't want to date any lawyers, doctors or politicians. I want to keep seeing my boyfriend, the music teacher, because he makes me happy, mother," Zoe sighed into the phone, setting the table.

"Your ex-boyfriend? The one that comes with a built in child?" Candice questioned sounding outraged.

"The one and same," she replied. "Just because Ethan wasn't up to the task of playing stepfather, doesn't mean I have to do that with Aria. I am up for the challenge that she brings to me dating her father. I will not break up with him because he has a daughter. That is not the kind of person my father raised me to be. If you love a person, you love them for who they are, what they bring to the relationship, baggage and all, you love them for the kind of person they make you. Wade comes with Aria, they're a package deal, and I wouldn't change it, mother. I want them both to be a part of my life."

"You've told me plenty of times how happy it made you that Ethan didn't want to raise you, because you got to live the life you had. You don't have to keep rubbing that fact into my face," Candice snapped. "I am just saying I think you are making the biggest mistake of your life by living there and dating someone below you," she stated with a huff.

"I am not dating below me, and I am not making a mistake with my life. I am doing what makes me happy. You wouldn't know the first thing about what makes me happy because you weren't there while I grew up, while my father taught me about life, how to respect people, taught me morals. When I needed a mom, I had my father and my best friend who is now my boyfriend's mom."

"You think I liked what I did?" Candice asked in an uproar.

"I don't know what to think. All I know is you didn't try to contact me by any form; you didn't show up on any day throughout the week or holidays. You didn't try, mom. Now I have to go because my boyfriend and his daughter are here, and I am simply tired of fighting with you. Good-bye mom," Zoe said, hanging up the phone not giving Candice a chance to say a word.

Zoe took a deep breath to calm herself down, before pulling the front door open to let her company into the house, plastering a fake smile on her face. A smile Wade could read right through.

"You doing okay?" Wade asked, pressing a kiss to her cheek. Zoe nodded, pushing the door shut, hearing it latch.

"A fight with my mother about how I am making a mistake by moving here," she sighed. "We'll talk about it later," she told him, turning her attention to Aria. "Explore, find something on TV if you want, make yourself at home. The bathroom is down the hall, and bedrooms are upstairs, otherwise there isn't much," she told the young girl.

"I noticed your book collection. Do you have more?" Aria asked.

"I do; they're in my old room upstairs. If you find any you want to read you can borrow them," Zoe told her, hearing the timer go off.

"I'll show her to the room," Wade said, letting Zoe go to the kitchen. "I still remember my way around this house," he assured Zoe before she had the chance to make a joke.

Zoe laughed softly and walked into the kitchen to turn her oven off, pulling out her meatloaf. She busied herself getting the last of dinner on the table. She was going over what she had on the table making sure she had everything when she heard her dinner guests coming back down the stairs.

"Meatloaf?" Aria questioned, not pleased at all with the selection of dinner food.

"Do you not like it?" Zoe questioned looking from daughter to father and back again. "I'm sure I can find something else for you. I didn't know," Zoe rambled out, trying to think of what else she could quickly make for Aria.

"I made it for her once, and she won't eat it. My mom can't even convince her to eat it. I chalked it up to being a lost cause. I won't force her to eat it," Wade shrugged. "I should have told you," he stated.

"It can't be that bad can it?" Aria asked sitting at the table, putting the smallest piece on her plate.

"I don't want you thinking you have to eat it Aria. Not if you don't like it. It really wouldn't be a problem to make you something else," Zoe assured her.

"It's okay. It can't be that bad, can it?" Aria asked again, using her fork to poke the meat.

"It is a lot better than the one your dad makes. I wouldn't eat the food again after eating his," Zoe half joked. She had his meatloaf once, and that was enough. "This was my dad's secret meatloaf. A recipe I didn't get to until after I moved out," she shared, putting food on her plate.

"My meatloaf isn't that bad," Wade defended with a cringe. It had been some time since he last made it, and the last time he made the food it was burnt and hard; nothing like it should be. "I haven't had this in forever," Wade said, putting extra on his plate. "What? I've never had meatloaf better than this," he said, looking far less guilty than one should with a pile of food on his plate.

"Even better than grandmas?" Aria asked, raising an eyebrow. Wade nodded his head.

"I love your grandma's cooking, but no one could beat Harley Wilkes when it came to meatloaf," he praised.

"Now I really understand why you stayed for dinner the nights we had meatloaf. Was it the only reason you came here? Even after we started to date?" Zoe asked, taking a bite of her food, watching as Aria took bites of her food, except for the meat.

"It was a huge plus," he smirked, sending her a wink. "It almost tastes the same as I remember it," he commented.

"It's not so bad. Far better than the rock dad tried to pass off as edible food," she said, taking a bigger bite.

"Nice to know what you really think of my food, sweetie," Wade chuckled. "But this once you're right," he agreed.

The rest of their dinner chat was filled with everyone talking about things that happened to them that day and telling a funny story. The atmosphere around them was light, a nice feeling to have while eating.

It was after dinner that Zoe found herself standing in front her kitchen sink with Aria, the girls having sent Wade out for ice cream and toppings, as they settled on a movie to watch to finish their night.

"When was your real first date?" Aria questioned, rinsing a plate off.

"I was 14 at the time. He was my first serious boyfriend, as the others were more silly little crushes," Zoe recalled. "We went to this lakefront restaurant. It was a disaster," she laughed. "But not the worst date I had ever been on. Why do you ask?" Zoe questioned, as they kept up their pace with the dishes.

"Mitchell asked me out, but dad," she sighed.

"I know how important this is to you, so I will help you out where your father comes into play, okay?" Zoe asked, wanting to make sure she was okay with that plan.

"Thank you, Zoe," Aria said, flinging her arms around Zoe, leaving water marks from her hands. "He can be a bit to handle at times especially when I bring up anything about boys."

"I felt the same way with my dad. Talking to him about boys was awkward at best, but he was my best friend. I couldn't keep anything from him," Zoe smiled hugging the girl back.

"Who did you talk to when you needed a mom and not a dad?" Aria asked, as they got back to the dishes.

"Your grandma. She was a mom to me," Zoe smiled.

"What was the worst date you had ever been on and did you go out with him again?" Aria asked curiously.

"Believe it or not, I went out with him again. I dated him for three years," she smiled thinking back to her relationship with Wade. "And that guy is your father."

"What date was this?" Wade questioned, making himself known, having been standing in the back listening to what two of the most important people in his life, were talking about. He had to know they could get along without him being close by. He couldn't move forward with Zoe if Aria wasn't comfortable enough with Zoe around.

"You don't remember?" Zoe asked, looking over her shoulder at him. He shook his head, not being able to recall it. "It was our fifth date; we went to this stupid action-packed movie, that you had to see; I went because I wanted to be with you," she smiled sweetly. "And half way through the movie, not only does the tub of popcorn, we're sharing spill all over my lap, but your cola right with it. And mind you that I am wearing these light-blue jeans that could pass for white and an actual white blouse," Zoe says earning laughs from the father-daughter duo.

"And all I had in my truck at the time was a pair of shorts and a white tee, mind you, they were clean," he clarified for his daughter. "And I didn't want the date to end, so instead of the restaurant I picked out; we went through a drive thru got burgers and shakes."

"We went and sat beneath the stars and ate our dinner. Saw a shooting star too," Zoe smiled. "The date may have started off as the worst date ever, but it ended on a high note. It really sold the next date," she laughed, turning back to the dishes. "I'll get these finished, while you two start making your sundaes," she urged them.

"I'll make yours, Zo," Wade told her. Amazed how everything in the house was still in the same spot as when they were kids. "Didn't like change huh?" He questioned, shutting the cupboard door after grabbing three bowls.

"The system worked, why change that?" She questioned, with a shrug. "Do I need to tell you what I want on my sundae?"

"I don't think so, I will give you a bit of everything," he winked. She shot him a look, making him laugh. "I've got it covered, unless your topping preferences have changed."

"They haven't," she assured him.

"Then I am good," he told her, quickly planting a soft kiss to her lips.

With the dishes from dinner done, the sundaes made and the ice cream safely in the freezer so it won't melt, they sat on the couch, Wade in the middle, both his girls on either side of him as they settled in to watch a Rom-Com, one Wade didn't vote for, but got out voted to watch. He didn't mind, not when he has his girlfriend curled up to him, her head resting peacefully against his shoulder, his daughter sound asleep next to him with half the movie left to watch.

"I should wake her and go," Wade said once Zoe turned the TV off.

"Or if it wouldn't be weird or even awkward, she can sleep in my old room, and you guys can spend the night. If it's something you or Aria aren't comfortable with you don't have to, but I wouldn't like you guys out there this late driving home," she rambled on.

"Babe, you could have just asked if we wanted to spend the night," he chuckled, kissing her nose. "Give me a minute to talk it over with Aria?" He asked.

"Of course," she smiled, getting up to take the dirty bowls to the kitchen to quickly wash them up, giving father and daughter the chance to talk without her on top of them.

She jumped slightly, before relaxing into Wade's strong and warm embrace, his lips kissing along her neck.

"It might be awkward come morning, but Aria is fine with staying the night," he informed her, pulling her closer to him. "Though you will have to come with us tomorrow and have breakfast at my ma's house, after we will drop Aria off with her mom, and we can spend the day together," he told her, his chin resting on her shoulder. "And you can tell me all about this upsetting conversation you had with your mom."

"Good thing I have nothing planned," she smiled, turning to share a kiss with him. "Just know that we are only going to be sleeping tonight," she warned, moving from his embrace, to turn lights off and make sure the doors were locked.

"I think I will be okay with that plan," he smiled, following Zoe up to bed.


	7. Chapter 7

_**Hey guys, there is still another part to this one. I didn't want to squish it all into one chapter. For the first part of this chapter I switched it up some and it's told from Aria's view point. Enjoy this one and I will have the next chapter up as soon I as can for you.**_

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Aria woke with a start, forgetting for a moment where she was at. The pale purple walls and the bed bigger than the one she calls hers at home, brought her back to remembering she spent the night in Zoe's old room, by far too tired to stay awake on the car ride home to make it to her bed. Not that she minded staying at Zoe's. She really liked Zoe. Not only did Zoe make her dad happy, happier than she could ever remember him being, but Zoe got her as far as growing up with only a father. She got along with Zoe and she had no reason to sabotage her dad's happiness. Besides if he focused more on Zoe and less on her than maybe she could spend more time with Mitchell.

Hearing the shower in Zoe's room turn on, she got up and walked over to the closet, smiling when she noticed that Zoe still had some of her clothes hanging up. She didn't think they would fit, but she saw a pretty purplish blue halter sweetheart dress, with a white belt. She wasn't one to wear a dress. The idea of wearing a dress never occurred to her, but today she really wanted to wear the dress hanging up in Zoe's closet. She wanted to step outside of her comfort zone.

"Morning sweetie," Wade said, sticking his head into the room, getting the all clear from his daughter.

"Morning dad," she smiled. "Do you think Zoe would mind if I borrowed some of her old clothes?" She asked. She really didn't want to spend the morning in her clothes from yesterday.

"I don't think she would, do you want me to check with Zoe?" He asked.

"Would you?" Aria asked, looking to her dad. She didn't feel comfortable enough to go on her dad's words. She didn't want to make Zoe upset with her for going through her things.

"Of course, sweetheart," Wade smiled, heading back down the hall to where Zoe's room is located at.

Aria went back to looking through the clothes Zoe had in the closet hanging up. Noticing that Zoe had quite a few dresses and skirts in the closet. The complete opposite of her own style. Though her eyes kept going back to the one dress she is itching to wear. She didn't want to because her whole family would be getting their way in seeing her in a dress again, but on the other hand, she did want to dress more girly, especially now that Zoe would be helping her getting her dad on board with her dating Mitchell.

"Zoe, said you can help yourself to whatever you want," Wade announced sticking his head into the room.

"Okay," she said. "Can you shut the door, so I can get dressed?" She asked looking over at her dad.

"Come down when you're ready so we can head over to grandma's," he informed her.

She nodded, waiting for her dad to shut the door, so she get dressed in the one article of clothing she swore she wouldn't wear on her own accord if she didn't have to. She can't remember where her dislike of dresses comes from, it was just there, clearly not the same thought process as Zoe as she didn't see any jeans in the closet. Taking a look at the dresser she wondered if that is where Zoe keeps them. She'll find that out another day.

She smiles at her reflection in the mirror, seeing the dress fit her perfectly. Spinning to make the dress puff out; that has to be her favorite part. She can't for the life of her figure out what was so bad about wearing a dress. The shoes on the other hand, she wouldn't dare try to wear anything that isn't her chucks.

"My little girl is wearing a dress," Wade said shocked seeing his daughter in a dress.

"What? It is a pretty dress and I like it," she lamely said.

"You look gorgeous, Aria. Better than I ever did in that dress," Zoe complimented, wearing a black and white dress of her own. "You can keep the dress if you want and any other articles of clothing that fit you," Zoe told her.

"You don't have to do that," Aria said, shaking her head. She couldn't take Zoe's clothes. Even though she really wanted to do so.

"I want to, Aria. Dust is all they will collect here. I got rid of everything else clothes wise, just a select few pieces I couldn't part with. And you are more than welcomed to have them," Zoe assured her. It wasn't as if she would be able to fit into them again.

"I'll have a better look another day," Aria promised, with a smile. "We best be going before we are late and have to deal with grandma," she said on a serious note.

"Your grandma is going to faint than freak out over you wearing a dress. She is going to worship Zoe for getting you into one," Wade remarked, walking outside, waiting for Zoe to lock her house up.

"Can we shut up about me wearing a dress already?" She asked. "It's not the end of the world, zombies aren't walking around. Life will go on," she dramatically stated, rolling her eyes. She knew she wasn't even close to hearing the end of it. Not when they had to have breakfast with her family.

"I don't see the big deal in her wearing a dress," Zoe piped in, walking to the passenger side of Wade's car.

"Exactly, Zoe," Aria smiled at her. "See dad, your girlfriend gets it. Why can't you?"

"The big deal is the last time Aria wore a dress she was 3. Ever since she has refused to wear a dress, demanding she dress herself so she didn't have to be forced into a dress she would only tear off seconds later. So for her to be wearing one is a miracle in itself," he explained, unlocking his car, for everyone to get in.

"Still don't get the big deal," Zoe said with a shrug, sharing a look with the girl in question.

"Can we just move on to something else already?" Aria asked, buckling up in the backseat of the car.

"Like the fact midterms are coming up and you need to start putting your focus on them instead of the gossip going around school?" He asked his daughter, looking in the rearview mirror at her.

"What gossip dad?" She asked with an innocent smile. "And I am studying, double what my friends are, thank you very much," she sarcastically said.

"You will be thanking me when you ace them and your friends barely pass," he smirked, coming to a stop at a stop sign. Aria rolled her eyes at him.

"Or we can talk about the fact you are taking Zoe, your girlfriend to breakfast at Grandma's place," she smirked, from the backseat.

"Kid, I hate to break it to you," Wade started to say, stopping at a stop sign to turn left.

"Zoe, has been to grandma's for breakfast many times. So many in fact she has been given her own spot at the table growing up," he shared, making the turn when it was his turn to do so.

"You mean the spot that no-one is allowed to sit in?" Aria asked, looking at her father through the rear-view mirror.

"The one and same," he smirked, casting a glance at Zoe.

"Wait! You're telling me that after all this time, I still have my spot at your mom's table?" She questioned.

"Zo, you were a daughter to her, she wouldn't let anyone sit there. If someone had to sit there it would be me. Mom, sees it as your place. She isn't about to replace you," he told her.

"That's oddly sweet," Zoe commented. "Does she know I am coming with you today?"

"It'll be a fun surprise," Wade chuckled. "She's been getting on my case to bring you over, now she can stop."

"Zoe, I am starting to see that it might be a good thing you already know this family. That way you don't have the impulse to dump my dad for his half brain ideas," Aria spoke up from the back.

"You might be onto something there," Zoe smiled.

Wade really wanted to question his daughter about the comment she made, he figured it would be best not to question her while they had a small audience. To him it sounded like she was worried that if they happened to break up at any point in the future that Zoe would want nothing to do with her after they had started to bond. He knew Zoe would never do that, but Aria? She didn't know that about Zoe.

"Zoe?" Jesse questioned, seeing her enter right after his niece who he quickly wrapped up into a hug. Giving her a little grief for her outfit of choice. Which earned him a small punch to his arm.

"Jesse, hey," Zoe smiled, sharing an awkward hug with the guy that was more of brother figure to her than a friend.

"Did I hear Zoe's name?" Jackie asked, emerging from the kitchen. "Aria, sweetie," she said, sharing a hug with her granddaughter. "You look lovely in that dress," she complimented.

"Thanks grandma. And yep, dad brought Zoe as a surprise," she shrugged, heading off to find her cousins, after stopping to say hi to her aunt.

"It's about time," Jackie pointedly told her son, pulling Zoe into a hug. "How are you doing?" She asked, pulling Zoe to the kitchen.

"Mom just hijacked your girlfriend," Jesse laughed. "Should've known mom loves her more than you. She did want a daughter but got you instead," he teased.

"Shut up," Wade laughed. "You are the one that has a name that can be used for a girl," he pointed out. "I knew mom would and I really don't think Zoe minds one bit. How is the whole adoption coming along?" Wade asked.

"It's crazy," Jesse sighed.

As the brothers chatted in the living room the women chatted in the kitchen, Zoe jumping right in to help finish the meal, all while being introduced to Becky, who pointed out which of her sons was Charlie the youngest and the oldest one, Bryson. Watching them for a moment Zoe could make out the striking resemblance to the older Kinsella brother. It goes without saying that Zoe could see traces of Becky mixed in there as well.

"I'm shocked you're oldest isn't out there sitting on a phone or playing a handheld game of some sort," Zoe commented, moving over to help Jackie with the food on the stove.

"Trust me, he wants to and he does," Becky sighed. Her son had a horrible addiction to any electronic device, but it is the world they live in. It's hard to get him to go a mile to a store without the light from the screen from either his phone or his gaming system in his face. "We've set a very strict rule that Sunday's he needs to stay off of them and be the sociable kid that we raised him to be."

"If it were up to me, Bryson would be on them far less than he is now," Jackie commented. "I raised two boys and they were outside rather than cooped up in their rooms battling some monster," she ranted, moving about her kitchen.

Zoe and Becky shared an amused look behind Jackie's back, trying their hardest to hold their laughter in. Jesse and Wade joined them in the kitchen a that moment sharing confused looks seeing their better halves ready to burst into a laughter fit.

"Do we even want to know?" Jesse questioned, walking to the fridge to get the juice out to pour himself a glass, skipping what would have been his fourth cup of coffee that morning.

"I don't think we do," Wade commented, with a soft chuckle, grabbing a coffee cup. "Do you want some?" He asked Zoe.

"I'm good," she smiled at him. "Your mom is going off on how evil technology is," she shrugged, moving to help Becky get the table set.

"That topic again?" Jesse asked with a groan. "We hear this every week when she comes over for dinner in the middle of the week."

"Wouldn't it be easier if you just kept both your kids from playing their games that night?" Zoe whisper asked the oldest brother.

"It doesn't help," Jesse commented. "She sees the X-Box and she drags it out. That woman can be so infuriating."

"I heard that Jesse," his mom sweetly called out over her shoulder.

"You were meant to, Ma," Jesse laughed.

Zoe laughed standing back watching the people that were a second family to her while growing up. And in that moment watching how the family expanded but hadn't changed, she came to realize just how much she had missed spending time with all of them.

"You okay?" Wade questioned, coming up behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist, his chin falling to rest on her shoulder.

"I'm okay," she smiled, resting her head against his. "I missed this," she told him.


	8. Chapter 8

_**I'm sorry with the wait for this chapter. I had quite a bit of personal drama going on, and family gatherings to attend, that writing was pushed to the back burner for a while. I am hoping that now that everything has died down a bit that I can start to get things updated at a weekly rate once again. T**_ _ **his chapter also gave me a bit more trouble than I suspected it would.**_ _ **The good news is that I do know what the next two chapters will hold and I do have chapter ten half written. Enjoy!**_

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After finishing breakfast the three of them left in a bit of a hurry Wade wanting to stick to a certain time schedule as he did make plans for a date with Zoe after dropping his daughter off with her mom. It was something he didn't want to subject Zoe too, not yet. As it would be something that he needed to get use to while dating Zoe. His ex-wife and his girlfriend would cross paths, that is inevitable, the longer he could delay it the better he felt over the situation. Zoe on the other hand, didn't mind.

"It's not as if I am walking Aria to the door, Wade. In fact, I am not even getting out of the car. But you need to understand that if we're going to be together I will have to deal with your ex-wife at some point. You cannot keep this life and that one separate. I can handle this," Zoe told him no nonsense to her voice.

"You should listen to her more often, Dad," Aria piped up in the back seat. "And I am not a baby; you don't even need to walk me to the front door of mom's place," she tacked on, an annoyance to her voice.

"I know this on both accounts," he told them both, turning onto the street, his ex-wife and his no longer best friend lived on. "I know I can't stop this from happening; I just wanted to hold off on it," he explained the best he could as he couldn't voice the weird feeling he felt over his girlfriend meeting his ex-wife. In ways it felt like, he was showing Zoe, who he essentially replaced her for, and it wasn't something he wanted to go around rubbing into her face. Moving on from what they had was hard, but it was needed for the both of them, he understood that. There were parts from his past without her that he didn't enjoy putting in front of Zoe. Things would be awkward enough, as it were; he didn't want to make it anymore awkward than things needed to be, for all of them.

"I get it; I do," she told him sincerely. She understood it, because there were parts of her past with Joel that she can't share with him, and if this was something that he didn't need to be doing he wouldn't be sharing it with her, but because he has Aria, he has no choice in the matter at hand.

The topic had been dropped when Wade pulled into the driveway of his ex-wife and his old friend. Wade and Zoe biding Aria good-bye, Wade giving her an, I love you, before she parted ways from them, Aria returning the sentiment with her dad, saying a good-bye to Zoe. All hope of them sitting in the car until Aria made it safely inside her mom's house, as Wade didn't want to leave a second before that. It wasn't in him to leave before he knew she was safely inside. Not today there wouldn't be but any other day, there could be the chance of no one being home, and he didn't want his daughter to be stranded outside to wait for them to get home, just because he couldn't wait to make sure she was safe inside, so he would wait. And that hope flew right out the window with one look at Meatball. In the front yard Meatball and his youngest were playing a game of catch. Meatball being Meatball, his face lit up seeing his old friend and Zoe sitting in the car.

"Zoe, I didn't know you were back," he commented, fitting himself through the open window to hug her. "You back for good? Or just visiting?" He asked, pulling himself from the window, ducking down to peer through the window.

"I'm back," she smiled albeit comfortably. "How have you been?" She asked being polite.

"Ya know, same old same old," he replied, not letting Zoe know how anything in his life is going. "Hey, Wade," he greeted a bit awkwardly.

"Hey," Wade greeted with a nod.

"Are you two back together again?" He asked, looking between the two of them. "Go figure huh?" He stated, not giving them a chance to answer his question. "What do you have planned for the day?" He skipped right over the other questions on his mind.

"Meatball, do you really think that is any of your business?" Wade snapped, getting annoyed with his old friend for asking so many personal questions.

"I suppose not," he sighed, moving away from the car. "Do you think that we can maybe ya know meet up later in the week, and ya know talk about everything?" He asked near full on bashful.

"I guess it wouldn't be the most horrible thing in the world," Wade commented. Knowing that he needed to clear the air with one of his childhood friends after everything, now would be a good time to do so. "Wednesday night good for you?" Wade asked.

"6 at the little tavern we visited during college?" Meatball asked.

"I can do that," Wade smiled. "See ya then, Meatball," Wade told him, putting the car into gear.

"See ya, Wade. It was nice seeing ya Zoe," Meatball said, walking from the car, meeting his wife on the porch.

"I can see why you fell in love with her," Zoe commented seeing the woman on the porch; her long flowing locks pulled up into a neat bun. A bright-red smile painted onto her porcelain face. She was beautiful; Zoe could see that. And in many ways Aria took after her mom in the looks department.

"Yeah," Wade sighed. He never questioned how good looking his ex is, but to him, Zoe would always be more stunning and beautiful than his ex could ever be. And if it wasn't for Aria being put into the middle of the drama, he wouldn't even care that she ran off to Meatball. Most of his hate over the situation was because his daughter was dropped right into the middle of it, feeling abandoned by her mother.

"I was thinking that I could stay with Aria, or she could stay at my place Wednesday night. She would get to school," Zoe commented.

"I wouldn't want to impose her on you," Wade told her. His mom would be more than happy to watch her granddaughter for the night.

"Is it imposing when I am the one saying I would like to spend the night with her?" She countered with. She didn't mind watching Aria, the more time they could spend without Wade around the stronger their bond would be.

"I'll ask her. It needs to be her choice," Wade settled on. He wouldn't force his daughter to spend the night with either one of them; it needed to be her choice. "About Aria," he started to say, thinking over the best way to address things with Zoe as not to hurt her feelings or make her think he didn't trust her with his daughter.

"What about Aria?" Zoe questioned, worried something was wrong when Wade stayed quiet far longer than she liked.

"It's hard for us to know how long this is going to last. Anything can happen, not that I am waiting for us to break up, because I don't want that, Zoe," he quickly told her not wanting her to think he was waiting for them to break up, that wasn't the case at all.

"I understand that, Wade. We cannot predict the future. Now my question is what does that have to do with Aria?" She asked, getting her boyfriend to relax some.

"If we happen to break up, I don't want Aria to get hurt by it. She likes you, Zoe. It's hard not to. But I worry for her, as she is already attached to you."

"Do you really think that if in some bizarre twisted fate that we broke up that I would forget about Aria?" Zoe asked, cutting her boyfriend off from whatever else he had to say. To have him hint at something like that hurt, deeply.

"I know you won't do that to her. Aria, on the other hand, she doesn't know that, because she doesn't know you like I do," he quickly assured her that she didn't think anything of the sort like that.

"Then she will need to be assured that I wouldn't do that to her. That I wouldn't leave her like her mom did," Zoe told him. She knew it was a low blow on Aria's mom, but it was the truth and with the talk of Aria worried she would leave her just like her mom did if things went south with Wade. "That is what you are hinting at isn't it?" She asked softly.

"Sadly enough, it is just like that," Wade sighed. "But you can't blame her," he stated. Aria has been through a lot when it came to her mom and to have someone she looked up to as a mother figure abandoned her, he worried it would damage her more than anything else.

"I don't blame her. She's been through a lot. The last thing I want to do is put her through more. I will talk to her about it and tell her point blank that if things don't work out with us, that I will still be there for her whenever she needs me, like to convince her father to let her go on a date with her crush," Zoe smirked, turning the conversation around on him.

"Yes, because that is what I need," he remarked. "I'm not getting out of this am I?" He questioned, admitting defeat early on, knowing that his girlfriend and his daughter wouldn't give up until he relented. Doing so now is the easier option.

"Nope," Zoe replied, shaking her head. "Have Aria invite him over for dinner; I will help you make dinner," Zoe told him. "And if you want to do more to ensure that he is good enough to date Aria, then invite his parents over," she suggested.

"I could do that, maybe on Saturday," he suggested. It wasn't as if Aria needed to spend every weekend at her mom's house, two weekends a month is what the court decided on, he needed to spend quality time with his daughter on the weekend's as well.

"Once you figure it out, I'll be there to help in any way possible," Zoe told him, resting her hand on his leg. "Now where are you taking me for this date?" She questioned.

"Now that is something I can't tell you," he smirked, wrapping his fingers around hers, bringing her hand up to place a kiss to her palm. "Just know that you will love it, and we've been there before," he said, giving her some sort of hint.

"That can be anything," she retorted with a laugh, pulling his hand to rest in her lap, wrapping her free hand around their joined hands.

"You'll figure it out," he smirked. It would only be a matter of time before she figured out what he planned for the day.

Wade planned the perfect first date for her when they were teens, at least back then he hoped it would turn out to be perfect. It had been a perfect first date. The following three dates they had weren't so much perfect as those dates consisted of them doing a group date with a group of friends or a double date with Jesse and going on a double date with your older brother wasn't exactly a pleasant night out. Their fifth date being the one Zoe classified as the worst date she's ever had, he still saw that night in a different light.

"Oak Hollow Farm?" She questioned, seeing the billboards far enough in advance. "Horseback riding and a picnic?" She questioned a sparkle to her dark chocolate eyes.

"The whole thing," he promised, gently squeezing her hand. It was such an easy date to recreate with different trails to take that he would do it again in the future as well, because he knew how much Zoe loved it, from the horseback riding to the majestic view they got along the way, right down to spectacular view when the sun started to set in the sky.


	9. Chapter 9

**Guys, I got this chapter done sooner than I expected, but when I got to thinking about everything that I have left for this story, it came together rather fast. I do have one more chapter left for this story, as I have said from the start that I never knew how long it would be. I am excited about the next few stories that I have planned to share with you all. I want to get _Hart of a Kinsella_ closer to its ending point before posting any new stories on here.**

 **The final chapter should be up either at the end of the week or some point next week as I know what else I need to put into the chapter, I still have to figure out how I want to go about it.**

 **I did want to put more in about the dinner at the end of this one, but I like where I ended things.**

 **Enjoy!**

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"I don't know what you are so worried about," Aria commented, watching her dad as they drove to Zoe's house early Wednesday evening. "It's not like we are going to conspire against you," she laughed. "On second thought that might not be a bad idea," she teased him.

"I'm not worried about what you, and Zoe get up too. I trust the both of you," he commented, casting a quick glance at his daughter as he drove. "What I am worried about has nothing to do what the two of you can possibly get up to," he elaborated a bit more, for his daughter. He could see how much his daughter is looking forward to spending the night with Zoe, that he has no worries how that would go for the two of them. He knew they got along, and they wouldn't have any problems. More than anything, they would find a way to get him to do more things against his wishes.

"In that case, you shouldn't worry much about Meatball," she sighed, leaning back into the passenger seat; her gaze going from her father to the road they were traveling along. "What time I have spent with him, he's nothing but a big softy. And he does feel sorry, as far as I can tell. But what do I know; I am only a teen," she retorted rolling her eyes.

"You, sweetie, know a lot of things. Half the time you may be wrong, but that is part of growing up," he teased, wanting to see his daughter smiling and not sitting in the car with a frown on her face. "And I have a bit to worry about. Meatball may be soft, but it's not that easy to bring everything up again, once you have let it go," he explained it the best he could. He didn't want his daughter to be worried about how things would turn out, that wasn't for her to worry about. "You brought enough stuff with you, what do you plan on doing while at Zoe's?" He asked, getting her to think about anything else.

"Stuff," she shrugged, avoiding telling him anything.

"Does this stuff have a name?" He asked with a chuckle.

"Sure it does," she told him. "And I am certain that Zoe will tell you when you ask her about what we did, but it's just girl stuff dad, nothing you need to fret over," she smiled, pushing open her car door, when Wade turned the car off, in Zoe's driveway.

"Hey, you know she won't tell me anything you don't want her to tell me right?" He questioned her, getting her to stop and stay seated in the car.

"I know, Zoe wouldn't; it's against who she is, unless she feels she needs to tell you something, but I can assure you that it won't be anything like that, because I would tell you something like that if that was the case," she assured her dad. "Again can we go in before Zoe thinks we are having a party in our car?" She asked, getting out of the car this time, Wade following suit.

"That is something that I know, and you give me no reasons to worry over, boys aside," he told her, on the walk up to Zoe's door. Aria knocking on the door.

"That you know of," she smirked, looking back at her dad.

"Don't you even dare joke about that," he warned, a smile on his lips.

"Whatever, pops," she retorted rolling her eyes, turning to the door the second she heard Zoe on the other side, pulling the door open, seeing her wave them in before walking off again, the phone pressed to her ear. "I'm going to take this upstairs to Zoe's old room," she announced, holding both her bags up, walking upstairs, leaving her dad by the front door.

Wade shut the door behind him, walking in the direction that his girlfriend walk off in. He saw her leaning against the counter an annoyed expression on her face.

"Mom, I really have to go." He heard her say. Realizing that she was on the phone with her mom, he went to back out of the kitchen. Before he could do so, Zoe found her way to him, wrapping an arm around his waist pressing her free ear against his chest. He quickly wrapped his arms around her, kissing the top of her head. He chuckled softly hearing his girlfriend's mom's muffled voice through the phone. "I don't have time to debate this very closed topic with you; I am hanging up now, bye mom," Zoe told her, hanging up the phone and placing it on the counter next to them.

"Should I ask?" He questioned.

"She's not happy that I moved back here. She was under the illusion that I would be coming back there. We've been running around in circles about the whole thing for a while now. She can't understand that I need to be here," she sighed, pulling him closer now that she had both arms wrapped around him.

"Or maybe she's come to realize how much she needs you in her life, and she doesn't want you to leave her like she had done with you," Wade suggested. "Simply put she is scared that you will forget about her."

"That is just absurd," she told him, closing her eyes. If she let herself think about it, everything he said, made sense to her. "I wouldn't forget about her. I have forgiven her for what she did as it was best for all of us. We made amends, and we built a bond of sorts; I can't just walk away from that," she retorted.

"No, you can't. Even so, it doesn't matter how many times you say it or assure her of it; she finds it hard to believe, and before you say anything trust has nothing to do with this, so don't pull that card," he told her.

"Huh, amazing you still know me," she teased. "I can't move back there, but I can show her over time that I won't be writing her out of my life now that I live states away and not practically next door to her," she resolved. He kissed her head, lingering a few extra moments.

"I thought you invited me over for dinner before meeting up with Meatball?" He questioned. "And from what I can see there is no amazing food being cooked, so what gives?" He asked, making light of the tension she held in her body. Feeling her relax against him is one of the best feelings in the world.

"I ordered pizza," she shrugged. "Couldn't figure out what I wanted to make, and by the time I could figure out something it was too late, so I ordered in," she explained, pulling away hearing the knock on the door.

"I've got it," he told her, quickly pecking her lips, moving through her house to the front door to pay for the pizza before Zoe could tell him otherwise. After paying for and giving the delivery guy a tip, Wade called up the stairs for Aria to get washed up for dinner.

"I could have paid for it. I did order it and intended on paying for it," Zoe told him, placing plates on the table, going to the fridge to get them all something to drink with their pizza.

"I know you could have done so, Zoe. I don't mind paying for pizza. Next time when we go out you can gladly pay the bill," he told her.

"I'll just plan the whole night," she teased, opening the pizza boxes Wade sat on the counter top side by side as each pizza was a different kind.

"I will keep that mind," he said, hugging her from behind, catching her lips with his own the second she looked back at him.

"Can we not do that by the food?" Aria asked, walking into the kitchen. "I would like to keep my food down," she dryly told them, grabbing a plate from the table and helping herself to the pizza, ignoring the laughter coming from her dad and Zoe.

"I make no promises, peanut," Wade stated, grabbing a slice of pizza walking to the table to one of the empty spots.

They kept the talk to a minimum while they ate, laughs still shared around the table when someone told a story about the days events. Before they knew it, Wade was taking off with Zoe's suggesting of coming back to spend the night with them if he wanted to, if not, they would see him Thursday morning at school. Wade didn't know what he would do; it depended on how his night with Meatball went.

"Now that dad is gone," Aria spoke up, taking her attention away from the last bit of her school work. "How did you convince him to let Mitchell come over for dinner?" She asked. She didn't mind that his parents needed to come either. If she were going to date Mitchell, she would need to meet his parents as well and this way she could do so in her own home where she could feel a bit more comfortable.

"I didn't convince him to do anything. It came up and he agreed to do it, because he knows that you are growing up, and he needs to adjust to that fact," Zoe told her with a soft smile. "It's a good thing, Aria." The girl in question nodded her head. "Can we talk for a minute about something that has been on mind since Sunday?" Zoe asked, suddenly feeling nervous about the conversation at hand.

"Sure, what's going on, Zoe?" Aria asked, moving to face Zoe more fully, curious to know what Zoe had to say.

"There was this feeling and I talked to your dad about this, and he feels the same way, and I wanted you to know that whatever goes on with your dad, that I will always be here for you Aria. If you need me, I'm not that far away, whatever the status is that I have with your dad, I wouldn't fully walk away, not from either of you. It'll be a bit harder for you to get rid of me than some breakup, if it comes down to that," Zoe told her.

"Even if things end badly between you and my dad, I could still come to you if I wasn't comfortable enough in going to my Grandma or my aunt Becky?" Aria asked, chewing on her lip, looking down at her hands.

"Of course you can. If anything happens with your dad, it will not have any effect on our relationship, Aria. If you need me, I'll be there, okay?" Zoe asked her, seeing the smile forming on her face.

"Okay," Aria smiled. "Nothing is going to happen with you two is it?" She asked then. "I mean I haven't seen him this happy in a long time, and I don't want something to happen to that happiness," she quickly rushed out.

"Sweetie, I love your father. He makes me happier than I have been in a long time as well. I have no plans for what we have to end, if anything I want to keep moving forward with him, if that is okay with you?" Zoe asked knowing how close Aria and Wade were to each other. She didn't want to ruin that, just add to it.

"I don't mind at all; it would be nice to have another woman around the house," Aria beamed at her. Moving in with Wade and Aria is a thought that often crossed her mind, it was a thought that she wasn't ready to say out loud or suggest it happening for a while longer yet. "Can you help with my Biology homework?" She asked, not letting Zoe get too hung up by the comment she had made.

"Sure," Zoe smiled, moving over to look at what Aria needed help with, pushing everything else to the back of her mind.

* * *

Across town, Wade pulled into a parking spot outside the tavern that he would visit with Meatball, back when they were in college and the best of friends after things with Zoe went south. Meatball had been the one there for him, when he felt like he had no one else. It was silly as he had his mom and his brother, but they didn't get that he didn't want to wallow in self-misery over what could have happened if things were different, he wanted to get wasted and forget about all the heartbreak he was dealing with. The tavern also was the place where he first set eyes on Amiya. At first, it was a fun little fling with her until he saw her with some other guy, that is when jealousy crept up on him, and he had to force himself to admit that he was in love with her and a fling with her just wasn't enough for him anymore. He wanted to be with her. Commit to her.

Shaking thoughts of his past from his mind, he got out of his car, locking the doors behind him, he entered the dimly lit place, quickly seeking Meatball out in the corner sitting at the table they had once claimed as theirs back in the day. A smile over those thoughts snuck up on him. He stopped to get a beer from the bar, giving him a chance to keep his memories at bay and get his thoughts in order over what it is he would be saying to Meatball. Because after everything they have been through, he has missed his friend.

"Wade, you have to know how sorry I am about how things have turned out. I wasn't trying to steal your wife from you," Meatball rushed out the second Wade sat down at the table with him. "It wasn't even like that, when she left you," he sighed, wrapping both hands around his beer bottle. "I know she did things wrong, that instead of telling you that she wanted out, that she didn't love you anymore, she ran away leaving and wrecking her relationship with both you and Aria," he said with a gulp.

"I know all of this Meatball. I did have a sit down with Amiya." The talk with his ex-wife wasn't as soon as he liked, but they hashed everything out, for the most part. They, however, couldn't see eye to eye when it came to Aria. "With how everything turned out, it was easier to blame you than it was to blame myself for ruining my marriage with Amiya. I fell out of love with her, and I thought that I could pretend that I hadn't stopped loving her for the sake of Aria. That if I came clean, that things would be different for Aria and Amiya. Nevertheless, I thought that I could find a way to love Amiya again, I just couldn't do that," Wade told his friend with a heavy sigh.

"You know that isn't the case right?" Meatball asked him. Wade nodded his head, as it is something that everyone has told him. "Amiya would still have run; she was scared, just like you were and instead of talking it out, she did the wrong thing. That guilt you feel, Wade, you have to forgive yourself for it. You're not at fault here. Amiya was scared from the start, don't you know that?"

"That she didn't know if she could be a mother?" Wade snarkly questioned, running a hand over his face, taking a long pull of his beer. "I know that, she said it from the moment we found out she was expecting. I was scared of being a father, but I stuck with it, and being a father is the best job in the world. You know that feeling," he said referring to Meatball's kids. "We can sit here and drag up everything from what happened, but it isn't going to do either of us any good as we can't change what happened. Amiya made the choice to leave without saying a single thing. She ran to you, which threw you into a weird place to be. And I hated that she ran to you instead of coming and talking to me about things. You fell in love with her and there is nothing wrong with falling in love. And you look happy, Meatball; you really do. And I can see that you make Amiya happier than I have ever made her," Wade told him, spinning his bottle in a circle within his hand.

"And you're happy with Zoe," Meatball told him. "We can't change what happened in the past, but we can move forward, Wade. And I want to be friends again."

"I want that too, Meatball," Wade told him with a smile on his face. "How has life been treating you?"

Just like they old friends fell into an easy friendship once more. Things would be different this time around for them, but they saw no sense in letting the past effect them. They couldn't control things back then, and now they took the chance they had to control where they went with their friendship. They both made mistakes along the way, but those mistakes turned out to be more than a mistake, they were amazing turns of events for the both of them.

And crawling into Zoe's bed to end his night, wouldn't be the worst way to end his day. He couldn't think of a better way than to be curled up next to his girlfriend to start a Thursday off with. He would tell Zoe what transpired with Meatball to an extant, that is.

* * *

By the time Saturday rolled around, Aria's nerves were on high alert. Zoe had spent the night, helping keep her mind from what disaster dinner could possibly turn out to be with her dad meeting Mitchell for the first time along with his parents who made the whole thing ten times worse than it should be. Her dad meeting her potential boyfriend is one thing, meeting his parents as well, that was insane, wasn't it?

Aria kept herself busy in her room the whole day, rearranging her bedroom now that she could move back into her room, when her dad painted her room for her two weekends ago, and now that her dad found the time to bring her bed and things into the room, she wanted to move things around and what better time to do that then when you want to avoid thinking about the night ahead of you?

Aria was the one to open the door when they knocked, as she was the one walking down the stairs to see if her dad or Zoe needed her help.

"Hello," she smiled, biting back her nerves. "Please come in," she told them, moving to the side to let them in. She shared a small hug with Mitchell. "Dad, Zoe," she called out, shutting the door. Wade and Zoe shared a look with each other, making sure that everything in the kitchen would be fine while they went to the living room to meet their company. Wade followed behind Zoe.

"Mom, Dad, this is Aria," Mitchell introduced them to the girl he wanted to take out on an official date, depending how this dinner went.

"Hi, it's nice to meet you both," Aria smiled, shaking their hands.

"It's nice to meet you as well. Mitchell, hasn't stopped talking about you for days now," Kathy his mom said, making her son stand there being embarrassed. Not that he was alone in that moment, as Aria blushed, her nerves turning into embarrassment, over that.

"All good things I hope," Wade said, coming to a stop in front of them.

"Mr. Kinsella, this is my mom, Kathy and my Dad, Truman," Mitchell said introducing his parents, before they could say more to embarrass him further. He didn't take any music classes, so he didn't get the luxury of knowing Aria's father, other than the stories he has heard from his follow classmates.

"Please call me Wade," he said, shaking hands with both Kathy and Truman. "I assure you that I have heard nothing but good things about your son," he smiled. "This is my girlfriend, Zoe."

"I didn't know you were dating the music teacher," Truman blurted out, his own face turning a pink color. "I apologize for that. We've met Zoe at the school once or twice from when we've had to drop off some medicine for Mitchell," he explained how he knew of Zoe.

"It's fine really," she assured them with a soft smile. "We've had a long and a bit of a complicated past," Zoe smiled, moving closer to Wade, wrapping an arm around his waist.

"In other words, they have known each other since they were kids, dated and broke up and have since reconnected and relit the fire simmering between them," Aria explained, with a very dramatic eye roll.

"Something like that," Wade chuckled. "Please do make yourselves comfortable. Dinner will be a bit longer. Can I get you anything to drink?" He asked.

With drinks being served, Wade and Truman sat in the living room getting to know each other while Zoe and Kathy finished up with dinner in the kitchen, even though Zoe told Kathy she didn't have to help; Kathy, however, insisted she do something to help. In the midst of it all, Mitchell and Aria snuck off to her room, leaving the door open as she didn't want to be in anymore trouble than necessary.


	10. Chapter 10

**I'm sorry for the small wait with this chapter. I've been dealing with some personal things, as well as trying to write a Christmas themed story, which is up now. And the busy holiday season hasn't given me much time to really sit down and write.**

 **This chapter does mark the end of this story. My attention is going to be moved onto _Hart of a Kinsella,_ before I start to post a new story, as I want to get that one wrapped up for everyone.**

 _ **Italics**_ **means flashback. And do remember that everyone does feel insecure at times and that is no different for Aria. Enjoy!**

* * *

 **6 months later**

"Are you sure about this?" Wade questioned, standing in the house Zoe grew up in, the house she called home, surrounded by boxes taped up ready to be moved out, boxes that were sitting half full and unfolded boxes tossed off in a corner waiting to be folded so they could hold things that belonged to Zoe or her father.

"Very sure," she responded, taping a box up writing in bold black sharpie it was her clothes. "This place will always hold memories dear to my heart, but I've outgrown my childhood home, Wade. I have no reason to keep this house. It's time for it to bring happy memories to a new family," she told him, walking up to him wrapping her arms around his neck. "I love you and I love Aria, so making this move is the right step in the right direction. Do you not want me moving in with you now?" She asked, hurt seeping out with the words.

For the past month, it felt as if she already lived there. He asked her to move in two days ago when they drove to the school together, Aria more excited about it than either of the adults. It took very little thought to say yes. She wanted to live with them and build a family with them. For him to be questioning her now, it frightened her to think he changed his mind and didn't want her to be in his life any longer, that he simply didn't want her.

"I want that greatly," he quickly told her, keeping a tight hold on her waist, not letting her get away from his tight embrace. "This is where you grew up, Zoe. I don't want you to sell this place if you're not ready to part with it," he explained to her. She didn't have to put the house on the market until she felt comfortable in doing so. He didn't want her to have any regret on seeing her childhood home being sold to a new family. He needed to make sure Zoe was more than okay in saying good-bye to the house, that she is ready to part with what she called home.

"I'm ready. It's sad, but I'm leaving this home for a better home, for a home that is filled with love, a home with the family I want to spend my forever with."

"What if we moved that family into this home?" He questioned quickly. Zoe gave him a funny look not knowing what was going on. She led him to the couch, moving items that needed to be packed away.

"What is going on with you, Wade?" She asked, once they were situated on the couch, her hands holding onto one of his. Wade sighed, scrubbing his free hand over his face.

"This is the place where you grew up with your dad. I can't take that away from you," he told her softly. Zoe smiled, kissing his jaw, finding his words to be sweet, but that was an offer she needed to refuse, the thought of why made her giddy for the future.

"Just because I don't have my dad doesn't mean I need to be in this house as a reminder of the love he gave me, of the good times we had and the bad times. I will forever have those memories in my heart where I hold him dearly, Wade. It's sweet of you to think like that," she told him, looking around the house. "This house may have been big enough for two people, but not three people. Not if we want to add to this family. There are only two rooms," she told him.

"What are you saying?" He asked, looking bug eyed, going a bit pale. "Are you saying that you're pregnant?"

"Rest easy, big guy," she laughed, curling into his side, placing his arm around her. "I'm not saying that. What I am saying is that the home you created with Aria is a home where we have room if we decide to expand our family. Give Aria the little sibling she has not so subtly been hinting at."

"The when are you giving me the gift to have a brother or sister to boss around comments?" He laughed. "I do want that with you sooner rather than later, Zo." He smiled at the idea of having kids with her some day. "Can we for now focus on moving you home and then maybe focus on a wedding?" He asked her.

"What wedding?" She asked sharply, snapping her head up to look at him.

"Our wedding silly," he replied, poking her nose.

"In order to get married, a person needs to actually ask the other person. And I haven't asked you, and you haven't asked me," she commented. Wade thinking she looked cute as ever looking a bit bewildered.

"I'm asking you now," he told her, holding up a ring. "Will you marry me, Zoe?" She smiled, kissing him.

"Without a doubt yes I will," she whispered against his lips. "Your grandma's ring huh?" She questioned, getting a better look at the ring Wade slipped on her finger.

"I've had it for years, before we broke up," he told her. The ring always belonged to Zoe. He bought a ring for his ex-wife, that should have told him all he needed to know. The woman of his dreams belonged to the now owner of this ring, always had. That should have been sign enough for him.

"I love it; I always did though," she smiled, remembering the times she adored the ring when she was at Wade's place when they were kids.

"That is why it belongs to you and no one else," he replied, kissing her left hand.

When they make it home with Aria, they would inform her first, wanting her to know about the engagement as it would impact her the most, before they made a bigger announcement to their family and friends.

* * *

Two weeks. That was all it took for Jackie to plan an engagement party for her youngest son and the woman that would officially become a daughter to her. She even got ahold of Candice and invited her. Jackie wanted Candice to take a good look at how happy being home made her daughter. It was important to Zoe to have her mom there, and that alone was enough for Candice to accept an invite.

"What has you down sweetie?" Jackie asked her granddaughter, sitting outside on the porch swing, getting a tiny glimpse of the stars starting to litter the night sky.

"Nothing really," Aria said, glancing at her grandma. Jackie didn't believe that for a second, giving her granddaughter a disbelieving look. "I'm happy dad has Zoe, and that I get her too," she started to say.

"Things are changing, and you have a feeling that things with your dad will be different now that Zoe is in the picture permanently?" Jackie questioned, with an all-knowing look.

"Grandma must you always be scary right?" Aria asked with a small smile. "It hasn't changed anything yet, but it could, and I like how things are with my dad," she shrugged. Her dad could be a bit annoying when he would worm his way into her personal business, but she liked that he cared enough to do so, and if he stopped doing so, it would hurt, because not only is he her father, but in many ways he is her best friend.

"We both know Zoe won't let things change between you and your dad, sweetie. Having been raised by a single father she knows what it's like and how important your relationship is with your dad. She will encourage it," Jackie explained, giving her granddaughter a side hug.

"I can't help but think that they'll have a baby of their own, and I won't be that important anymore, because I'm not Zoe's daughter," she said softly, her eyes trained on the night sky.

"Oh sweetie," Jackie replied, feeling bad for her only granddaughter. That is for another two months when the adoption of a girl is made final for Jesse and Becky. "I've known Zoe almost as long as I've known that annoying man you call a father," she teased, getting a smile from the girl in her arms. " And I know for a fact that would never be the case. You will always be important and matter to them both, no matter the number of kids they have, if they have any."

"I can understand that and I feel like at times that she wouldn't toss me aside, but it's hard to fully accept that because it was so easy for my own my mom to leave me," she confessed sadly, tugging at her grandmother's heart strings.

"I hate that you feel that way, Aria," Zoe said, joining the two of them. "I don't want you to feel like that, it's not my intention to make you feel like you're ever unwanted, because I want you in my life, I want you as a daughter, Aria. No amount of kids could ever sway me from the love I have for you. You're not my blood, but I like to think that we are family, more than just me being your step-mom, or the woman who married your dad," she went on to explain.

"We are family, Zoe," Aria told her with a smile, moving from her grandmas embrace to hug Zoe tight.

"If you ever have concerns about how I feel for you, please don't hesitate to talk to me about it, because I don't want you to feel like this, Aria," Zoe whispered, holding her tightly. "That open communication system that you have with your dad, I want you to know that we can have that too," she informed her.

"I would like that," Aria smiled, pulling away from Zoe. "A lot."

"It seems that I am missing all the fun," Wade smirked, standing behind the three most important woman in his life.

"As you should," Aria piped up, looking behind her. "We are the life of the party," she teased.

"Fair enough," Wade laughed. "You're mom is here, thought you might want to say hi," Wade told her. Aria nodded, giving her dad a small hug on her way past him. "We can have any amount of time together just us, sweetie," he told her softly, holding her a bit longer, placing a fatherly kiss to her head. Aria smiled at her father, slipping from his embrace to find her mom, feeling better about her insecurities.

"I best be getting back in there," Jackie smiled, disappearing inside the house, leaving the engaged couple to it.

"Are you okay?" Wade asked, sitting next to Zoe, who wasted no time in wrapping herself around her soon to be husband. He heard the last bit of the conversation.

"I am fine," Zoe told him. "Aria is having a bit of fear about things concerning future plans; I don't want her to feel that way," Zoe told him.

"I trust that you worked it out with her. And she will come to us or anyone else for that matter, and tell them what she is feeling. We can't stop her from feeling any certain way. We just have to be there for her," he said, pressing a kiss to the top of her head. Zoe nodded, resting her head on his shoulder.

"Silly me, here I thought this party was for the two of you, and yet you two are sitting out here like some outcasts," Jesse said, sticking his head out the door.

"It's called privacy," Wade told him, getting to his feet, holding his hands out for Zoe to help her up.

"Wade, do you mind if I talk to Zoe for a moment?" Amiya asked, stepping outside with the couple before they could retreat back inside.

"It's fine," Zoe assured him. Wade nodded, walking inside the house staying close to where he could hear what was being said, just in case something was said to break out into a fight, he didn't want a repeat of before.

 _"So you're the woman who thinks that she can step in and play the role of mother to my daughter," Amiya stated, stopping Zoe from leaving the spot she stood by the front door, to get Aria. Wade was out running a quick errand, thinking it would be okay to do so, with Amiya not coming until later in the afternoon. It seemed someone showed up early then said. Not that Zoe minded. As she encouraged Aria to get to know her mom, a girl would always need her mom, just like a girl would always need her dad. Zoe, herself, wished she had her own mom growing up, as amazing as Jackie was, it wasn't the same._

 _"I don't think I am doing anything of the sort," Zoe retorted. "If Aria wants to look at me as another mother figure in her life, I can accept that, because I love that girl," Zoe stated._

 _"Just like you loved her father once upon a time, before you left him in a broken mess that I had to clean up?" Amiya questioned with a smirk, hitting Zoe where it hurt._

 _"You can't talk, as you not only did you break Wade, but you broke your family up, in one of the worst ways a person can," Zoe snapped back, not going to stand there and take any of the crap that Wade's ex had to say to her. "When I broke up with Wade, it was the right thing to do for the both of us, trying harder wouldn't have worked out for many different reasons. And not only did it break him, but it broke me as well. Do you even have any remorse for what you did to your family?" Zoe asked, stopping on the first stair. "Before you walk into this house and judge anyone else, you need to take a good look at the mess you caused the ones that care about you, Amiya." With that being said, Zoe headed upstairs to get Aria._

 _When Zoe returned downstairs, Wade was there in a heated conversation with his ex-wife._

 _"Aria will be down shortly," Zoe said, heading for the kitchen, not in the mood to deal with Amiya for quite some time, if ever again._

 _"Mind telling me what that was all about?" Wade asked, entering the kitchen, sitting at the kitchen table with Zoe._

 _"Other than her walking in here and stating point blank that I can't replace her as Aria's mother, and then called me out on breaking you way back when, it was a pleasant little time," Zoe sarcastically told him, taking a drink of her tea._

 _"I know it means very little, but Zo; I am sorry for the way she talked to you. You didn't deserve it at all," Wade told her, moving closer to her, pulling her into his embrace. "It is up to Aria on who you are in her life and no one else's."_

"I want to say I am sorry for what I said to you a few months back," Amiya apologized. "I was out of line for everything that I said."

"Thank you," Zoe told her. "And I am sorry for what I said, as it was out of line as well," Zoe said.

"It was the truth," Amiya laughed. "Aria is lucky to have you in her life as a mother figure."

"That is very nice of you to say," Zoe smiled. "I enjoy being a part of her life. And Amiya if you give her sometimes she will come around and want to share everything in her life with you," Zoe promised. Zoe felt the same when it came to her own mother. And so much from Zoe's life is parallel with Aria's life.

"Congratulations on the upcoming nuptials with Wade. I don't think I have ever seen him as happy as you make him, not even when we were married," Amiya shared.

"Thank you and for what it's worth, Amiya, you and Meatball make such a lovely couple," Zoe told her. "Let's get back inside, before that fiancée of mine starts to freak out more than he already is," Zoe smiled.

Her life was no where near prefect, but to Zoe, her life was pretty close to being perfect. She never thought she would reunite with not only her best friend from her childhood who happened to be her high-school sweetheart, nor did she ever think that she would end up marrying him after everything she has been through. She didn't know what her future held for her, but with Wade and Aria there for the ride, she knew it wouldn't be the worst experience of her life. And everything that comes their way, they could take it on together.

As for Wade, he never imagined reconnecting with his high school sweet heart, and wanting to rebuild a better partnership with her, after one failed marriage. As he was more than content to have his life revolve around his daughter and her needs. Zoe entering his life once more, it was truly for the best, as was his failed marriage, as it was only meant to be for a short amount of time, to give him the best gift, anyone can be given in the form of his daughter. With Zoe and Aria, with him, life was for them to take, head on.

Aria, she was happy to not only have her mother back in her life, slowly rebuilding the bond with her, but to have Zoe in her life as a mother to her. It made her happy to see how happy her dad is. She couldn't pick a better person for her dad to be with than Zoe. It did help that he eased up on her dating life and let her have bit more of a private life. Her dad would always be her best friend, but a person can have more than one best friend. Her insecurities would always be there in the back of her mind, about not only her life at home but about everything from home to school, to the pressures that being a teen brings along with it. With her dad, Zoe, and even her mom, to the rest of her family, she would make it out just fine, and turn into the adult her dad wants her to be. The adult she knows she can be wherever her life may take her. It is her life to figure out.


End file.
